The Last Hope
by BarrelRacer13
Summary: "All else will fail,  only one will reveal…  the dead will rise to fight again/ two will make amends/ soul shall die by blessed heart/heart shall shield one's blade."  Takes place BEFORE 'The Lost Hero'
1. Chapter 1

**Don't ask how or why I thought of this idea, I just did, okay? I get ideas like this all the time with Invader Zim, so get over it. but I hope this story will turn out as good as my "BAD DAY" story on Invader Zim….194 reviews is shocking, because I didn't think it was that good, but the readers did….but if you're not a fan of Invader Zim and if you are, but you're not a fan of ZATR(Zim and Tak romace), then I don't suggest reading it. but this isn't an Invader Zim story, so I should stop talking about it. **

**I DO NOT OWN PERCY JACKSON AND THE OPLYPIANS.**

**Btw, this takes place about two years after "The Last Olympian".**

**And please, No Flames. Even though I love roasted marshmallows and staring into the flames and stuff, I don't want flamers. If you don't like this, then why the heck are you reading it? and if you're going to flame this, please be nice. **

**CHAPTER 1**

**Annabeth's POV**

Okay, I was still comprehending what had happened. It was all so quick, so random! One minute, I was working on a scouting mission for Chiron, and the next, im rushing back to camp with some blood-covered dude. Okay, let me start from the beginning. After Kronos was defeated on Olympus and the Great Prophecy ended, we _thought_ the Titans retreated. A bunch of them did, but a few hundred didn't. and six months ago, they made is clear what they wanted. They wanted revenge. Percy was kidnapped by them five months ago, and I was already worried sick when I found out about that. But he was only a good friend…we tried dating for a while, but it just didn't work out. Then I find out Thalia was kidnapped as well. Sure, she was still a Huntress and stuff, but she would write to camp once a month. Five months ago, that stopped, and I know that if something was happening, she would have sent a messaging hawk, but no one in camp saw anything like it. no one heard from Nico ever sense the battle, but that didn't surprise anyone. We all thought he just retreated to the Underworld or continued traveling all over trying to find out more about his family.

Chiron had sent campers out to scout the city, and me and Clarisse were sent this time. We were passing the candy shop where Percy's mom worked, and it was about midnight. Me and Clarisse split up, and each checked the alleys on the opposite side of the main road. I had the left side, and was walking down some pitch black ally way, when out of no where, I hear heavy panting, and something heavy crashes into me, knocking me over. Whatever –or whoever- it was who had crashed into me, fell twice as hard, rolled a few feet, and hit the wall with a bone chilling thud.

"OW!"

I knew by now it was human, and it was a boy. I was about to ask him who he was and what he was doing out this late at night, but he yelled, "Look out!"

I looked behind me and saw at least five monsters speeding this way. I got ready to fight them, but they ran past me, and attacked the boy. Just before they attacked him, through the dim light, I saw that he was covered from head to foot in blood, and was still bleeding from a few cuts, and his head was gushing blood. He looked ready to pass out, with so many scars and painful looking wounds, but then the monsters attacked.

I heard muffled yelps of pain, and then saw something lunged forward, and bit the boys arms. He cried out in pain, and another monster knocked him in the head –hard, I should add- and sent him flying across the ally and crashing into the wall, making more blood pour from uncountable wounds. I saw him weakly try to pull out a sword, but I knew he wouldn't be able to fight. I pulled out my knife, and threw it. it sliced the heads off some of the monsters who were closest to the boy. Then, -thank the gods- Clarisse jumped up out of no where, tossed me my knife back, and we fought off the monsters quickly. I turned back to the boy who crashed into me, but he was too covered in blood and cuts to recognize him.

"Thh….thanks…." and he blacked out.

"Go call camp! Hurry!" I told Clarisse. She didn't argue, and ran off to Iris message camp, while I ripped the bottom of my shirt off and wrapped in around the boys head. It didn't do anything to stop the blood. I panicked a bit, and tried to get him to swallow some nectar, but he wouldn't. he was too weak. The next thing I know, Blackjack, Porkpie, and another Pegasus who's name I didn't know landed just a few feet away. One of the Apollo kids was with them. it was Abby, one of the most experienced healers at the camp.

"Thank the gods." I breathed as she hopped off Porkpie and ran over.

"What happened? Who is this kid?" she asked.

"Im not sure who he is, but he's hurt. I'll explain everything on the way back to camp." I answered.

and that's leads to where I am now. We all made it back to camp, and managed to stop the head-bleeding, and most of the other cuts stopped bleeding now, and the kid was in the clinic, still out cold and covered in blood. I couldn't get the image of how scared he looked when he saw the monsters after he crashed into me out of my head. Chiron finally came out of the clinic.

"Is he alive?" I blurted out.

Chiron nodded. "Barely, but alive either way. If you got him here any later, he would've died. But he's defiantly weak, and will be for the next few days. Theirs is still a chance though that he has brain damage from how hard he hit his head." Chiron sighed.

"Chiron! He's waking up!" one of the Apollo nurses called. Me and Chiron rushed back there, and sure enough, the kid was waking up. A loud, long groan escaped him as he tried to reach up and rub his head, but his arm must have been broken, because he yelped a bit and put his arm down and his eyes open. They were so full of weariness and pain and horror.

"Wh…where am i?" his voice was hoarse and pain dripped from every word.

"Camp Half-Blood." Chiron answered.

"Half-Blood….." the kid seemed to think for a second, trying to remember something.

"Where….Annabeth, Percy and Grover stay?" he asked. Everyone looked over at me. how did this kid know me, Percy, and Grover?

"Yeah…how do you know?" Chiron asked.

"I…I've been here before….a few years ago…and the titans attacked…." He seemed to be racking his brain to remember.

"Can you point out who Annabeth is?" Chiron asked. The kid looked over some of the Apollo kids, but then his eyes rested on me, and he weakly pointed at me.

"Then who are you?" Chiron asked, puzzled.

"Im….im….ugh."

"You're Ugh?" one of the not-so-bright Apollo kids asked.

"No! i…cant remember…." He seemed really stumped on this one. Chiron looked at him a second longer.

"Well, we might as well get you cleaned up." He finally said, then tossed me a rag.

"He seems to know you, Annabeth. I must go tell Mr. D, and calm the other campers, and the Apollo kids have other work to do. Get the blood of his arms and face, if you will." Chiron said.

"Of course." I nodded, and when they left, I turned back to the confused, bloody kid laying in the bed. He shirt was so ripped up, that up could see almost his whole chest. And there was a long, deep scar running down from his shoulder, all the way to his right leg, making a long, ragged diagonal line. The only reason I could see that, was because his shirt was ripped all around it. he didn't seem to like it, but he let me wipe the blood off his right arm, then his left –and he winced when I placed the rag on his left arm- and finally, his face. When I got the blood off his face, I caught my breath. I knew that face.

I blinked at him.

"Are you sure you don't remember your name?" I asked him.

"I know it started with an 'N'." he replied.

"Nico. Nico di Angelo." I told him. he recognized it.

"The Son of Hades." He murmured.

"What else do you remember?" I asked.

"Umm….monsters. tons of them…and….having to eat from the garbage…being alone for…three months fighting off monsters…."

"Do you remember anything that happened earlier?" I asked. It was only 5 in the morning, so there was a chance he might remember.

"No…no I don't."

I sighed. he yawned.

"Go to sleep. im going to go find Chiron." I told him. he didn't protest, and as soon as his eyes closed, I took off running toward the Big House. The whole camp was wandering around, awakened by the urgent and early return of me and Clarisse from earlier. I was still trying to figure out how this scared boy was Nico, the son of Hades, who summoned the dead during the war with the titans. It was kinda hard.

"Chiron!" I called as I reached the Big House. Mr. D and Chiron were on the front porch.

"Great gods, Child, you nearly gave me a heart attack!" Mr. D protested. _All the drinking you do is whats gonna give you a heart attack!_ I wanted to snap at him, but then thought better of it.

"The kid! I found out his name. it's Nico de Angelo. Son of Hades." I panted.

"Nico?" Mr. D asked.

"Yes! The son of Hades….used to play that Myth O Magic game…black hair….made a huge hole in the pavilion….anything ring a bell?" I prompted impatiently.

"Hmmm….nope. not that I care either way." Mr. D stated. Chiron ignored Mr. D's carelessness and trotted back to the clinic. I followed. When we walked in, Nico was fast asleep, snoring slightly. Now that I got a good look at him, he had dark rings around his eyes –the telltale sign of being really, really tired- and a long scar going across his face. His black hair looked like a complete rat's nest, it looked like he'd been wearing the same cloths for months, his sneakers were all torn up, and he really, he looked worse then death. If that's even possible when his dad is the God of the Dead….

Rachel decided to walk in then. I really hated that girl…still. Her eyes rested on Nico, and then a green fog started surround her and her eyes got all green. It was that oracle thing again.

"_All else will fail,_

_only one will reveal…_

_the dead will rise to fight again_

_two will make amends_

_soul shall die by blessed heart_

_heart shall shield one's blade."_

It didn't sound like a rhyme like most did, but then again, this was Rachel, so I didn't find this surprising. The red headed's eyes dulled back to normal colors, and she almost fainted. Chiron caught her just before she hit the ground.

"I guess this means someone will be going on a quest?" I guessed.

"Im afraid so." Chiron answered gravely.

**Maybe people will actually like this one! and sorry the prophecy didn't rhyme…I'm not the best poet or rhyme maker….and I just wanted it to say 'blade' in there. No one ever said I make sense, so I can be weird like that!**

**Please review and don't flame. Flamers make me sad and all flamers will be held responsible for Gir's death. (look up on Google or Deviant ART 'Gir' and look at what pops up! He's so cute!) **

**And I cant find the one word I want to spell! Darn it! how the heck do you spell 'im-fer-ma-ery'? I know for a fact it has a 'ph' in it, but no matter how I try to spell it, the computer says it's wrong! And this is gonna drive me crazy…**


	2. Chapter 2

**Nothing to say. **

**Chapter 2'**

**Annabeth's POV**

The next few days passed by in the blur. I had kept myself busy with teaching younger campers how to fight with knives. It was a new thing at the camp. I didn't really like it much, but Chiron said I had to be the teacher for this sense I was the best knife-fighter they had. I hadn't seen Nico in a while either. He stayed in the clinic area, though sometimes I think I saw him moving along in the shadows. But today I didn't have to teach the kids knife fighting, so instead, I thought about that prophecy. It still seemed so weird to me, though I had I feeling it was about Nico….

"Hey Annabeth!"

I was so lost in thoughts as I sliced at the dummies used for sword fighting, that I jumped when I heard someone call my name, and spun around, putting my knife to Travis's throat.

"Whoa! Hey, I'd like to live for a few more years at least, ya know." he pushed the knife away from him. I sighed.

"What do you want?" I asked. Me and Travis weren't exactly 'friends'.

"Come see this!" he exclaimed, then ran off, heading for the clinic. I followed, slightly annoyed, but once I was a few feet away, I started to hear a kinda creepy yet pleasant sound. When we entered, I saw a crowd surrounding a bed where the music was coming from. I pushed my way to the font, and was shocked at what I saw. Nico was playing a flute that was made from bones, and it sounded REALLY good. But he looked annoyed, much more like the old Nico I used to know. and he was wearing fresh cloths instead of the bloody, ripped up ones he was wearing when he crashed into me.

he lowered the flute.

"Come on! Play another one!" Abby begged. Who knew a child of Apollo would want to hear a son of Hades play a flute.

"Ugh. C'mon! I already played at least the whole 'Nightmare Before Christmas' soundtrack!" he complained.

"So? Cant you play any happier songs? Like 'Here I Am' from the Spirit movie?" someone called.

Nico sighed, but put the flute back to his lips and started to play the exact beat.

"Wait! What about a slower song from that movie? The fast songs on a flute kinda sound weird." Some said.

"YOU sound weird!" Nico snapped.

"Just play…something!" someone else called. Nico rolled his eyes, but obeyed and put the flute to his lips again, and played the song 'Sound the Bugle Now." By Bryan Adams.

"_Sound the bugle now _

_play it just for me  
As the seasons change_

_remember how I used to be  
Now I can't go on I can't even start  
I've got nothing left_

_just an empty heart_

I'm a soldier 

_wounded so I must give up the fight  
There's nothing more for me _

_lead me away...  
Or leave me lying here_

Sound the bugle now

_tell them I don't care  
There's not a road I know that leads to anywhere  
Without a light feat that I will_

_stumble in the dark  
Lay right down decide not to go on_

Then from on height 

_somewhere in the distance  
There's a voice that calls_

_remember who your are  
If you lose yourself _

_your courage soon will follow_

So be strong tonight

_remember who you are  
Ya you're a soldier now fighting in a battle  
To be free once more _

_Ya that's worth fighting for!" _one of the Apollo boys sang to the beat. He was good too. But for some reason, I had a feeling that there was a reason Nico played that one.

"Where'd you learn how to play the flute?" I blurted out. Stupid ADHD. He stopped playing and looked at me.

"What, do you think only Apollo kids and nature spirits can play the flute?" he teased.

"Hey! I play REED PIPES, not the flute." Grover protested. I hadn't even relized he was there.

"Whatever. They're basically the same thing." Nico waved his hand, showing he didn't care.

"They're two different things!" Grover insisted.

"Yeah, and so are bushes and trees."

"And whats that supposed to mean?"

"Bushes and trees are both made from wood and leaves. Reed pipes and flutes are the same."

"In your dreams!"

"My dreams are filled with dead people. And they don't play flutes OR reed pipes." Nico stated plainly.

"Why would your dream-oh yeah. never mind." Grover sighed, and Chiron pushed his way through.

"Nico, Annabeth, you two are wanted at the Big House. Now." Chiron said urgently.

"Thank the gods. It was getting boring in here." Nico grumbled as he pulled himself up stiffly. I hadn't realized how tall he had gotten. (**A/N: because im the author of this FanFic, im going to say Nico is only a year younger then Annabeth, and is the same height. Just because I feel like it.)**

his arm wasn't broken anymore, most likely because of the Apollo kids. His flute poofed away –but being made of a bone, and Nico being the Son of Hades, God of the Dead, I shouldn't find that shocking. His shaggy black hair hung in his face, making his dark eyes look like shadows. We followed a little ways behind Chiron as we made our way to the Big House.

"You would think it would Travis and Conner going to the Big House, sense they're the biggest trouble makers here." Nico muttered.

"Biggest trouble makers who stay year round. I have a feeling you're more of a trouble maker then them." I stated.

"Hey! Im not THAT much of a trouble maker!" he protested.

"Yeah. Making a whole new canyon in the pavilion. That doesn't cause any trouble." I rolled me eyes.

"Come on! You have to say it's funny to see people trip over that!" he replied.

"Hey! I was one of the kids who tripped over it!" I protested.

"Which makes it twice as funny." He teased.

"Jerk." I slapped him the chest.

"OW! In case you haven't notice, im almost COVERED in cuts and the Apollo kids can only do so much to heal those!" he yelped.

"Cuts from you being emo." I stated.

"Im NOT emo. Just because I spend most of my time talking to the dead and wear dark colors, doesn't mean im emo." He growled.

We fell silent. Then he tripped over a rock that wasn't there earlier.

"_Di Immortals!_" he snapped as he fell, face first, into the dirt. Apparently, there was Pegasus dung right where his face hit the ground. But I couldn't help it. I laughed at him, and Chiron turned.

"YUCK! Ugh! Those STUPID-" he never finished what he was saying, because he tried to take a step, and slipped onto his back. I cracked up. So did everyone who saw that. But w all stopped when we saw skeletal hands reach up from below the ground, and two skeletons appeared and pulled Nico out of the Pegasus droppings, and with a snap of their fingers, he was wearing clean cloths AGAIN and his face was clean. Then the skeletons dissolved. Nico was fuming.

"I HATE those titans…:" he growled.

"Titans? Where did _that_ come from?" I asked.

"I don't think that all the titans retreated when Kronos was defeated. And they've been trying to kill me ever sense, and same with Percy and Thalia. They keep sending monsters after me so they can take me where ever Percy and Thalia are being held prisoner."

"You know where they're being held?" I asked hopefully.

"No. I only know that's whats happening." He stated as we began walking again to the Big House.

"You do know that was Pegasus dung, not titan?" I pointed out.

"Do you think im stupid, Annabeth? Really. DUH I know that was from a Pegasus! What I meant when I said 'I hate those titans' was one of the titans put that rock there….or Travis and Conner. Either way, I hate both."

"You hate Travis and Conner?"

"Long story."

"I don't care. What did they do?"

"None of your business."

"I saved you, now you owe me. what did they do?"

"I'll repay you later with something else."

"Repay me with the story."

"No."

"Please?" I gave him my puppy-face.

"I have never fallen for the puppy-face, and I never will."

"Meany." I pouted.

"All well. I guess that happens when you're son of the god of the dead."

"Oh c'mon! tell me!"

"NO means NO."

"Gosh, you sound like my dad."

"I am no where near close to your dad, and I would never fall in love with a goddess, let alone the daughter of one."

"Right. You'll fall in love with the son of one."

"Do you wish to die? because I can arrange that for you quite easily."

"No, I would like to live."

"Then don't call me gay."

"I didn't say-"

"But you were basically calling me that, when I can guarantee you, im not."

"Whatever. Now tell me the story!"

"NO!"

"Pleeeaaaasssee?"

"You are really tempting me to kill you."

"You couldn't kill a girl if you tried."

"Wanna bet?"

"Not really."

"Good because I already owe Apollo, and I don't want to owe anyone else."

"So you're saying you couldn't really kill a girl."

"Shut up!"

"What do you owe Apollo for?"

"I made a bet with him…and I said Zeus doesn't sing in the shower….Apollo said he does…and I lost."

"Zeus sings in the shower?"

"Yeah, and when he found out me and Apollo kept making bets on him, we got in trouble…and lets just say he made Thalia stalk me for a while and shoot me with lightning whenever she wanted to. And im not sure what Apollo's punishment was."

"Wow."

"Yeah. it was pretty funny."

"Sound like it."

"You and Apollo still making bets?"

"Yeah."

"On who?"

"Poseidon and Dionysus."

"Mr. D and Poseidon? Really? They're gonna kill you."

"No. I can just blame Apollo. It was his idea to make bets on those two, and it was my idea to make bets on Zeus."

"You and Apollo shouldn't make bets on the other gods, Nico." Chiron said as we got to the Big House.

"Hermes is part of it too!" Nico protested.

"So if Hermes and Apollo jumped off a cliff, you would too?" Chiron challenged.

"No. im not immortal. I would push someone else off so they _think_ I jumped off." Nico stated, and just as he did that, Apollo and Hermes materialized in the room.

"Oh! You owe me again, Nico! Poseidon DOES take showers underwater!" Apollo pointed at Nico with a big grin on his face, and Hermes just looked all pouty.

"Prove it." Nico growled.

"Easy. I asked him, and after he looked at me weird, he said 'Yeeeaaaahhh….why do you want to know…'…I think he thought I was stalking him for some mortal. But you can ask him himself, and he'll say yes!"

"I want proof." Nico stated.

"I don't care! Now shut up, and listen to what Chiron has to say!" I snapped at Nico.

"Um, you are interrupting a very important conversation im having with two gods. And you didn't even say 'excuse me'. rude, Annabeth. Rude." Nico shook his head in mock shame. I punched him in the arm again.

"OW! What was that for?" he yelped.

"For talking back to me. now listen to what Chiron has to say." I answered.

"Yeah, we gotta go anyway. Zeus called some meeting and the only reason me and Hermes made it out here was because we said we had to go to the bathroom." Apollo said.

"Well, that's what you said. _I_ said I had to go get Gorge and Martha." Hermes corrected.

"But they were on your staff thingy-" Apollo began as he and Hermes disappeared.

Chiron shook his head. "Do you have any idea how much trouble you are going to get into if you keep this up, Nico?"

"Yeah, pretty much."

"Ugh. Anyway, the reason why I made you two come down here is because a quest has to take place. And I want you two to go on it." Chiron sighed.

"Anyone else, or just us? Because I cant stand more then a few hours with him." I pointed at Nico.

"You don't even know what the quest is yet." Chiron pointed out.

"So?"

"You will be trying to find Percy and Thalia. Artemis requested for only you two go find them, only because you, Nico, are a child of the Big Three, and you, Annabeth, because you're a strong girl and know Thalia well. And so you can keep Nico from getting himself killed." Chiron said.

"You know it'll happen eventually." Nico stated.

"Yeah, and I'll be the cause of it." I stated.

"Stop arguing! Now, you two will be going together on this quest, and Artemis said she'll send a little help along the way. So get ready to go. You leave tomorrow."

"And I have to do this?" Nico asked.

"Yes." Chiron nodded.

"Darn."

**Sorry, I was a bit hyper when I was making the last part of the chapter…and I don't know why, but picture Nico playing the flute way to easily. **

**PLEASE REVIEW!**


	3. Chapter 3

**Again, not much to say, other then even if I don't get any reviews, im still gonna post this story. But reviews will make me update faster….maybe.**

**CHAPTER 3 (I don't know why I put that in caps lock….randomness….)**

**Nico's POV**

Well, it was the next day. yay. Now I get to go a quest with Annabeth. Sigh. She's gonna kill me before we even get out of New York. And for some odd reason, I was in the mood to play my flute. Dunno why, I just was. maybe Apollo was messing with my mind. I hate it when he does that. As I walking toward Half-Blood Hill, I tripped. Again. This time, on a trip wire. I growled.

"TRAVIS! CONNER!" I knew they put it there. Ever sense I lied and told Katie Gardener that Travis has a crush on her during the battle, they have NOT left me alone. Not to mention that Katie kicked me in a very painful spot. Darn girls and their kicking.

Travis and Conner came out laughing as I pulled myself off the ground and dusted my baggy jeans off. **(A/N: I don't like it when people have Nico wear black skinny jeans. I don't even know why people LIKE those kind of jeans, let alone boys! I mean really, skinny jeans are uncomfortable. And stupid. And im a girl saying this, so get over it, you fashion lovers. I HATE fashion. I like staying AWAY from what most people wear! Yay! Im different! No offense…) **

"And you said he would see the shine of the wire!" Travis laughed as he playfully pushed Conner. I gritted my teeth.

"Nico! Hurry up, you walking skeleton!" Annabeth yelled from the hill. I pushed Travis and Conner out of my way, I stormed up the hill, my sword disguised cleverly as a cell phone. **(A/n: okay, I know I just had an Authors Note, but I jut have feeling that if anyone ever reviews this story, they're gonna say something about Nico's sword being made out of Stygian Iron or whatever, and I know that. But I wanted it to be that he got a new sword made out of the same thing a Luke's old sword, Backbiter, only because I like that name and just feel like it. and don't try to get me to change it, because im a persistent person sometime, and Invader Zim fans don't just give up easily like some people do.) **

we started up the road in silence.

"Why couldn't Argus drive us?" I asked after a few minutes.

"Because he's busy. In case you haven't realized, Bonehead, the whole camp has been busy lately. Which is why we couldn't have someone else come with us." Annabeth stated, matter-of-factly.

"And we couldn't take any Pegasi?" I complained.  
"I thought horses and Pegasi hate you."

"They do. But there ARE skeletal Pegasi, ya know. those don't hate me."

"And you've ridden them?"

"I rode one…named…ugh, what was his name?"

"His name was Ugh? I thought that was your name."

"Shut up!"

"Fine."

"His name was….." I raked my brain to remember. Geez, what a shame. My own Pegasus, and I cant remember his name.

"ShadowFlash!" I exclaimed. Annabeth looked at me like I was nuts. Maybe I was. who knew?

"What?" she asked.

"ShadowFlash. That's the Pegasus's name." I said.

"You sure you're not just losing your mind?"

"Positive."

And we fell silent. This road was long. And it just kept going, and going, and going, and going, and going, and going- THERE GOES A MOUSE! And going, and going, and going, and going….AND im bored.

"Are we there yet?" I asked.

"Well, we're out of camp, and that has to count as something."

"Like a quick road to death!" I exclaimed with fake joy.

"Hahaha. Very funny."

"You are such a downer."

"Yeah, and you aren't, Mr. Emo?"

"Im not emo, and the next person who says that is going to die a very painful death by the hands of me."

"But you cant kill a girl."

"Shut up."

"You say that a lot."

"You say 'you' a lot."

"Because I have to."

"Why?"

"Because."

"Because why?"

"Because I do!"

"Why?"

"Because I cant call 'you' 'I'!"

"Why?"

"Nico!"

"What?"

"Stop that!"

"Stop what?" hehehe…annoying Annabeth is fun….

"Im going to slap you!"

"Why?"

"NICO!"

"What?"

"Shut up!"

"Why?"

"Because you're more annoying then the Stoll brothers!"

"But there's no one more annoying then them."

"Yeah, and you're that No One."

"Why?"

she turned on her heal and kicked me in the stomach. I grunted as I doubled over. Even if I already stated it, im stating it again: darn girls and their kicking. She walked on ahead. I looked up.

"Hey! Wait up!" I called. I broke into a run to catch up, but then got an idea for the morning. Hehehe…I grinned semi-evilly.

"You have legs. You can catch up." She called back. I caught up.

"You said 'you' again."

She rose a fist to punch me. I put my arms up in surrender.

"Just saying!"


	4. Chapter 4

**Reviewers for Percy Jackson can be so different then the Invader Zim fans…so many less reviewers who don't flame….but the Invader people are all insane in such WONDERFUL ways. Invader Zim rules! Woo! Uh…ahem…..forget you ever heard any of that. **

**CHAPTER 4**

I. Was. So. Bored! Who knew this could be so boring? Running from monsters for five months is more fun then this! not to forget that I was wearing all black, and the sun was very hot, and I was sweating.

"Annabeth!"

"what?"

"Im bored."

"Guess what?"

"What?" I thought she had something exciting to say.

"I don't care."

Well, there go my hopes.

"Can we stop for the night? or travel by night, instead of day?" I asked.

"Why travel by night instead of day? it's harder to see at night!" Annabeth snapped.

"But it's not so hot out, and the dark is easier to travel through because it's a lot less crowded." I pointed out.

"No, we're not traveling by night. because one us would break an ankle." She growled.

"Well, can we take a break for a while?"

"Why?"

"Because im tired, sweating, and I have to use the bathroom."

"We're surrounded by woods, and i don't think a tree nymph would like you peeing on them."

"There might be a gas station somewhere up there." I pointed out.

"And, and every time me, Percy, or Grover went in one of those in the first quest I went on with them, we were attacked by monsters."

"So? We know how to fight! We're eighteen!"

"Makes no difference. The older we are, the more monsters smell us."

We fell quiet again. Okay, so I was kinda hoping Annabeth would figure out the real reason I wanted to travel at night, but if she did, she didn't give a sign.

"Whats the REAL reason you want to travel at night?" she asked. Well, that was weird. Can she read my mind?

"Uh…well the…uh…."

"Say it already!" she snapped. Well, someone's moody today. I mumbled the answer quickly and quietly, and she didn't hear what I said.

"Nico, you do know that it will be easier if you speak, not just move your mouth like an idiot."

"Ugh. The monsters. Im afraid they'll attack again, and at night, I can hide better by blending with the shadows! But if you ever tell anyone im afraid of the monsters, I will personally make sure you die a slow, painful death after I make your life miserable." I grumbled, looking at the ground as I walked with my hands in the pocket of my hoodie. Why I wore a black hoodie today of all days, I don't know. but it was like 100 degrees outside.

"You don't have to be ashamed to be afraid of the monsters. Everyone's afraid of them, and although some have no reason to be, you were chased by them for five months. That's a good enough reason." She said, not sounding as bitter as she did earlier.

"But I spend most of my time in the Underworld. Where dead murderers walk around with knives, people who started wars try to attack everyone in sight, my dad's dog has three heads and eats anything, and have my dad wearing a robe with the faces of people being tortured. And the Kindly Ones work for my dad, and they STILL attack me sometimes. People would think I wouldn't be afraid of monsters."

"Just shut up already and stop complaining." Annabeth sighed.

"Can I complain if I feel like im getting Heat Stroke?"

"No."

ugh. Girls are so frustrating. But then again, if Percy asked that, Annabeth would say yes. But of course-OOF! I ran into Annabeth's arm which she had held out.

"Why'd you stop?" I snapped.

"Because if you're a son of Hades, you can shadow travel, right?"

"Yeah…." I nodded, unsure of where she was going with this.

"Have you ever tried shadow traveling with a passenger?"

"What? Annabeth, you're making it sound like I was a pregnant lady."

She slapped me in face.

"You idiot! I mean, _have you ever shadow traveled with company. _ Or with someone else." She snapped.

"Well…not without Mrs. O'Leary or some other creature of the Underworld…where are you going with this?" I asked.

"We could get further faster if we shadow travel, but I cant. But if I held onto you –not in that kind of way…do you think that'll work?" she asked. Wow. A daughter of Athena asking a son of Hades if something would work. Where was the world going?

"Umm…I can try, but I don't know…." I was unsure about it.

"We can still try that though. if you think you can." She sounded like she was challenging me.

"I'll try." I grabbed her hand, looked at the shadow of a tree, and ran full speed ahead for it, dragging Annabeth with me.

ANNABETH'S POV

He ran strait for a tree. Maybe he lost his mind. But I ran with him either way. Just before he hit the tree, he passed through the shadows, and I went with him. It was amazing! Going so fast in such a dark place! We appeared by Percy's apartment a moment later, and Nico stumbled, and I had to catch him before he fell.

He moaned before passing out. It really wore him out. I looked up, and wondered if Percy's mom would let us stay with her until Nico woke up at least. he was too heavy for me to carry, so I laid him down on the sidewalk outside the apartment, and walked up to the door and knocked. Paul answered.

"Annabeth? What are you doing here? And why is someone laying on the sidewalk?" he asked.

"Look, im on a quest with Nico, who's the kid on the sidewalk, and we're trying to find Percy and Thalia…Thalia's a daughter of Zeus…and they disappeared, and Nico is being hunted. But we shadow traveled here, Nico doing all the work on that and wearing himself out, and I was wondering if we could stay here at least until he wakes up." I explained in a rush.

"Isn't Nico the kid who helped me and Sally help you guys with the titans?"

"Yeah."

"oh, well, sure. Come in!" he smiled welcome-ly.

"Umm…but Nico is too heavy for me to carry…"

"I'll get him." Paul walked down the steps and picked Nico up. The son of Hades hanging limply in his hands. I followed Paul inside and closed the door behind me, while Paul placed Nico on a small couch.

"Sally's in the shower right now. She'll be down soon. I have to get back to work though now." Paul sighed, and walked upstairs. He got a job working as an author and would write stories about Half-Bloods and stuff because he found the fact that some people where half-god half-mortal was awesome. I sat down on the other couch, a glanced over of Nico. His skin was paler then normal. Out of curiosity, I stood up and walked over to him, putting my hand on his forehead. He had a fever. Probably from shadow traveling with two people. That _must of_ been tiring for him. I could tell from how heavily he was sleeping.

Sally came down from her room with her hair still dripping a little.

"Hello, Annabeth. What brings you here?" she asked kindly. I told her the story of how me and Nico where on a quest to find Percy and Thalia and how he wore himself out.

"Do you want to stay here for the night? we have a guest room, and one of you two could stay in Percy's room." She offered.

"I don't want to cause any trouble…."

"Oh, you wont cause any trouble! If you want, you can wait 'til Nico wakes up and see if he wants to. But it's always open to you." She insisted. I sighed and looked back over to Bonehead, snoring away on the couch. Loudest, snore-er I have ever head. You would think it was Hermes sleeping on the couch, not the son of Hades! He only woke up when he smelt dinner cooking. Percy's mom insisted on making it, and insisted we stay here at least for breakfast tomorrow.

"Annabeth? Where are we?" Nico asked groggily, still on the laying on the couch, rubbing his eyes and yawning.

"Percy's mom's apartment. That's where we landed…or…:"

"Shadow traveled to?"

"Yeah."

he yawned and sat up, his hair sticking in all directions.

"Come here." I said.

"Why?" he asked as he stood up and walked over to me.

"Because when we got here, you had a high fever." I answered, putting my hand on his forehead. He shivered.

"Great gods, Annabeth, your hands are colder then the Underworld!" he exclaimed, pulling away.

"Shouldn't you be used to the cold then, Bonehead?" I challenged.

"Maybe." He sat down next to me. he shifted a bit.

"Where's the bathroom?" he asked me.

"I dunno."

"Well, aren't you a big help!" he said sarcastically.

"Ms. Jackson, can you show him the bathroom? I would show him myself, but I haven't been here in a while…."

"Of course. This way." She waved him, and Nico stood, his hands buried in the pockets of his black hoodie. She came back down a few minutes later, and continued making dinner. We heard a loud _bang!_ and jumped.

Nico came down a few minutes later, rubbing his head.

"Hit your head?"

"I begin to wonder when I DON'T hit my head."

"What'd you run into this time?"

"I forgot there was a wall jutting out next to the bathroom, and when I turned to come back down here, I ran into it."

"Still half-asleep?" I guessed.

"I've said this once before, and I'll say it again. With great responsibly, comes a great need to take a nap. And I just had to shadow travel us BOTH here, and we have to be out of here by morning if we want to keep from attracting all the monsters in the country." He stated dully.

A few minutes later, dinner was done, and me, Nico, Paul, and Sally were sitting around the table, eating. Of course, if felt weird not to scrape some food into the fire, but there was no fireplace here, so we couldn't. Nico was stuffing his face, completely silent for once.

"A little hungry?" I teased.

"Shhh. Must…eat." He just kept eating the chicken, sauce, and cheese sub he had. Percy's mom asked if we knew anything about Percy, and I explained Nico's theory that not all the titans retreated when Kronos was defeated, and how we were on our way to go save him. when we all finished eating, I talked Nico into playing his flute. He played some strange song I've never heard before.

"Where'd that song come from?" Paul asked, still looking at the bone flute like it was an interesting science experiment.

"Italy. It's some Italian song that my mom used to sing to me and Bianca…." His voice trailed off.

"I thought you didn't remember anything about your mom." I stated.

"I don't. I was messing around where I shouldn't have been, and like when I found out how she died, I had been trying to see her, and instead, I got an image of her singing that song to me a Bianca before…." He looked away.

"Oh….well, uh…where she learn an Italian song?" I asked.

"She was Italian, Annabeth. Which is why my name is Italian." He stated it as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"You're name is Italian?" Paul asked.

"Yeah. I cant remember what my first name means, but my last name means 'of angles'."

Don't blame me for not knowing that, okay? I don't know Italian, and I never really paid attention to anything in Italian. Plus, I couldn't really read it that good anyway.

"Well, you two should be getting some rest. You can chose who sleeps in the guest room, and who sleeps in Percy's old room.

"I call guest room. Nico, you get Percy's room." I declared.

"I don't care where I sleep, as long as im not being eaten alive. Hopefully he picked up this socks recently."

…..

the next day, noon:

"See, I told you we made a wrong turn!"

"I don't even know where we're going!"

"Ugh. You are such a retard!"

"Thank you! I take that as a compliment!"

Nico was annoying the crap outta me. we had said out thank you's and left Percy's around 9 in the morning. And we were on our way to find Percy and Thalia.

"Ya know what! this is stupid!" Nico threw the map onto the ground, and poured some water on it from his water bottle.

"Don't think you're getting any of my water now." I stated.

"I wouldn't want it after you put your mouth on it." he growled.

"Well, now that you ruined our map, where are we gonna go, huh, smarty?" I growled.

"Easy. If it is the titans who have Percy and Thalia, then they'll be on Mount. Tam."

"All the way back there? I had a bad enough time there, last time! I don't wanna go there again!" I snapped.

"Yeah, I don't want to go fight titans either, but we don't have a choice, now do we? Besides, maybe whoever is leading this attack will be on Mount. Tam and we can defeat it there."


	5. Chapter 5

**CHAPTER 5**

**NICO'S POV**

It was cold out, and looked ready to snow. Annabeth –being the fool she is sometimes- didn't bring anything warm to wear, so I gave her my hoodie for the mean time. Sense we left Percy's Mom's apartment, 5 monsters attacked. And it was only eleven in the morning. The ice-y wind whipped my face and made me shiver. Bad day to wear short sleeves.

"T…told you we sh…should've checked the weather." I grumbled and I hugged myself in a failed attempt to stay warm. Who knew that after it was so humid yesterday, that the air would be dry and cold the next. Which told and Annabeth one thing. Either Apollo was sick and sun wasn't bright enough (which was very unlikely sense he's the god of medicine and stuff), or someone angered the wind gods…or that the gods just don't want this to be an easy quest. Small flurries of snow began to fall by noon.

"Want your hoodie back?" Annabeth asked, noticing my shivering.

"N…no. you can….u…used it." I stammered, my teeth chattering. Out of no where, a hellhound jumped out at us. Annabeth grabbed her knife, and I pulled ShadowSlicer out. We backed up as the hellhound walked forward. It lunged. I dodged, and Annabeth stabbed. The beat dodged her knife. I slashed with ShadowSlicer while Annabeth kept it distracted. Poof! It turned to dust as I cut through it's hind legs.

We looked around. No monsters jumped out at us. No mortals where walking around. Everyone staying where it was warm, which was kinda weird for New York. The bustle never stops here. But yet, no one was out doing stuff.

"Okay, we sh….should make ca…camp. There's…an abandoned….safe-house…me, Luke, and Th…Thalia made. It should st…still be the…there." Annabeth shivered and lead the way as we headed through the wind and snow. Annabeth found the safe-house quickly, thank the gods. And it was still standing. Not in the best shape, but it had a roof and most of the door. And it was still abandoned.

"Im…gonna go f….f-f-find some…food." I said while Annabeth built a small fire.

"Warm up first." She said.

"No. food first, warm later. We need to have food. Who knows how long it will snow like this?" I growled. She didn't say anything, so I turned and made my way back outside.

ANNABETH'S POV

I didn't really want Nico go back into the blizzard, but he was right. We didn't know how long this storm would last, and we needed food. And he left before i could give him his hoodie back. But I guess I can blame myself for this whole thing. If I let him watch the weather this morning, then maybe we would've been able to stay at Ms. Jackson's apartment.

After about 2 hours, I saw a shadow struggling to run toward me. at first, I thought it was a monster. But as it got closer, I realized it was a human, and soon, Nico burst through the door, his lips purple from the cold, his hair had frost all over it, he was soaked and really, he was blue from the cold.

"Great gods, Nico! What, did you go swimming?" I exclaimed as I jumped up and pulled that shirt off him and gave his a dry one that Percy's mom told us to bring just in case. It was little small on Nico, but it was dry. He had what looked like bread in his hand.

"I…I-i-it w….was…all…all I c-c-could….get." he was shivering. I tried to pull his hoodie off me, but he made me keep it on.

"Y….you s….sh-should stay…..w-w-warm."

"Ugh. Fine, but sit by the fire." I growled, pushed him over to where the fire was. he sat down, and I sat next to him, close enough to where we where touching. And the only reason I was doing this was to try to warm him up! He was freezing! He coughed a few times. Im not sure what time it was, but we both fell asleep by the fire. Nico was still shivering, and was still trying to keep him warm. The shirt he had on barely had any sleeves!

….

We woke up when a bright light lit up the small space. Nico looked worse then he did the other day, and was STILL shivering. But then again, there were holes in the walls, so the cold could still seep through. In front of us though, stood Apollo, dressed for the winter.

"Apollo." I bowed my head, but Nico didn't seem to notice it was the sun god in front of us.

"So cold…." Nico muttered quietly, trying to curl into a ball.

"Hello! Uhh…should I ask why he's wearing a sleeveless shirt when there a blizzard outside and holes all over the place in here?" Apollo asked.

"It's all he has. his other shirt is soaked from the snow." I answered. Nico suddenly sat up, coughing, until he threw up.

"Eww." I looked away.

"Dude…you have hypothermia. That's not good." I head Apollo say, and when I looked back, he was next to Nico looking concerned. (no, he doesn't LOVE Nico, but Nico is a good friend of Apollo.)

"Can you heal him?" I asked. Apollo shook his head.

"I wish I could, but I cant. Zeus has ordered that no one is to leave Olympus unless it's important. And he wants everyone who leaves back as soon as possible. And said im not allowed to do anything if one of you two is sick or hurt, saddly. He's been having an argument with Athena and Hades lately. He's mad that his daughter got kidnapped, and blah, blah, blah, and is letting his anger out on some of the other gods."

"And you had an important reason to come down?"

"Yes, actually. Hermes, the poor guy, has the flu, so im here delivering this to you two. A gift from your mother…and something from Hades as well." Apollo replied.

"Gods can get the flu?" I asked.

"Yeah. the bad part is, is that I cant do anything to help them if they get it from…not mortals. If they get a flu from the mortals, I can help. Hermes didn't though. you could say it's flu season on Olympus. But I must go now, before Zeus gets mad. Good luck!" he gave us the gifts from our parents, then disappeared. The gift from Athena was some extra food, ambrosia, nectar, some clothes, a map, and a few other things needed to survive. Hades gave Nico a black blanket that had a skull on it, and was made of some kinda of very soft material, a long sleeve shirt (black with a skull on it like most of the things Nico has), and black backpack. Really, the shirt and blanket where in the backpack, so yeah.

Nico wrapped the blanket around him right away. And just then, Athena appeared.

"Stupid Apollo forgetting about the blanket." I heard her grumbled before her storm grey eyes turned to me.

"Hello, mom." I said, bowing my head. I glanced over to Nico, who was rocking back and forth with his eyes closed and wrapped in the blanket his dad gave –or sent- to him.

"Hello, dear. I can not stay long, but Apollo forgot this. here." She handed me a blanket made of the same material as Nico's, but this one was a snowy grey and had an owl on it.

"I don't like the thought of my daughter having to share blankets with a son of Hades who was supposed to die with his mother." She growled. The disappeared before I could reaspond.

"You should eat." I passed him some of the food from the bag from my mom. He shook his head.

"Eat." I growled.

"No."

"Nico, eat, so I don't have to bury a frozen body!" I snapped.

"I don't wanna."

"I don't care!"

he coughed. I tried to shove the food down his throat, but he put his arm up and blocked me so instead I had him pined to the floor. And him being wrapped in the blanket made it hard for him to move around much.

"Stop, Annabeth! Let me up!" he protested, trying to hold my arm away from him.

"Give me a reason why I should." I hissed. I don't know why, I was just in a bad mood.

"I have to go to the bathroom."

Well, I guess that was a good enough reason. I let go of him, but instead of him getting up, he threw a frozen clump of dirt at my face, and got it in my mouth.

"Didn't you say the first rule to hand-on-hand battle combat is to never let your opponent trick you?" he sneered before laying back down, and going to sleep. jerk. The blizzard raged on outside, and I wondered if Thalia and Percy were okay. if it was snowing like this where they were, and they were tied up, they would surely die. it was cold out. I couldn't help but look over to Nico, who was curled up in a tight ball trying to stay warm. The snow wasn't helping his hypothermia. At all. He was muttering in his sleep. not the kind of muttering from normal Demigod dreams, but like he was having a normal kid dream. Kind of. He was saying things like, "Bah, bah black sheep", "I want some pie", "Mommy", and "Don't leave me".

he sounded sad when he 'don't leave me' and I had a feeling he was having a dream where someone he cared about was leaving him or dying. I looked down at the hoodie he was letting me use. It was warm and comfortable. I didn't even really need the blanket with it on. Sure, it smelt like the Underworld and death, but it was warm and didn't seem at all like it was around death. I figured the death-smell was just from Nico. No matter how many times that kid showered, the smell of death never left him.

I froze for a second and listened. Was that…a scream! Someone outside the hut was screaming. I peaked out, and saw a small form trying to run across the field, struggling in the snow and wind. Something bigger was following it. I ran outside, which was kind of a stupid idea, but all well. A small kid –maybe four or five- ran into me, with a man chasing after her.

The little girl was terrified. Her green eyes were wide with fear as she stared at me. I only took one look at the man chasing her before I lead the girl inside, then came back out to face the man that was really a Cyclopes. Not a nice one like Tyson. This one had only hatred in it's one eye. I pulled out my dagger. He didn't see me. perfect. Make it an easy fight, and I'd be able to see if the little girl was alright. He kept running closer and closer….i aimed my knife. When he was only about 3 feet in front of me, I sidestepped so I was behind, and then I stabbed him in the back. Poof. The golden dust sprinkled down on the snow.

when I went back into the safe house, I saw the little girl sitting on the floor by the fire. Her eyes seemed to change color. She was crying. I walked over to her and she looked up and tried to scramble back against the wall.

"Don't hurt me!" she cried.

"Shhh. I wont hurt you. Come here." I knelt down so I was on my knees. I knew this girl. It was one of the kids I used to baby-sit after school. Her dad would be home by ten every night, and leave at noon, so a nice old lady would watch her until I got out of school.

"Annabeth?" she asked. When I nodded, she ran forward and hugged me.

"What are you doing out here? You should be with your dad." I said.

"Daddy didn't come home last night. Granny says he was in a accident and wont be come home ever again, but that I'll see him again. So I ran away to find him." she told me.

"Maria, you know you cant do that. Remember how I told I ran away? Well, I almost died a bunch of times." I told her.

"But you said you were almost kill by monsters, and you and your friends killed the monsters so they'll never come back. Those were only bed time stories." Maria blinked at me. I smiled. I'd use the stories of how me, Luke, and Thalia would fight monsters when I ran away, and all that happened with me, Percy, and Grover for bed time stories for her. I left out the scary parts that would give her nightmares, but she always seemed so interested with them. I told her about the Camp Half-Blood, and she thought they were all great stories and that one day, she wanted to make a story like that.

"Well, what if you got to go to Camp Half-Blood? And meet Chiron and some of the kids from the stories?"

"But those aren't real!" she insisted.

"Be quiet…" Nico groaned, pulling the blanket over his head.

"Who's he?" Maria asked.

"That's Nico. Ignore him. but Maria, do you want to go to Camp Half-Blood?" I asked her, trying to make it sound fun.

"Yes!" she exclaimed loudly.

"Shut up!" Nico snapped.

"Mind your own business, Bonehead." I snapped back. I heard him grumble a bit.

"Well, I'll tell you what. when the snow slows down, I'll call some of my friends, and let they'll take you there, okay?" I looked at her.

"But cant you take me?" she whined.

"No. I have something very important to do. That's why Nico's here, because he has to help. Even though laying on his butt all day isn't helping anything." I said the last part loudly so he'd hear me. he turned around and sat up, swaying a bit.

"Well and you that little brat talking as loud as you are, isn't helping anything either. Besides, I've done more then you have! Getting us to Percy's apartment, getting the bread, and guess what! did I get a simple 'thank you'? no! I get hypothermia!" he snapped, glaring death at me.

"You'll get over it." I waved it off.

"Yeah, if I don't DIE first." He grumbled.

"Your dad's the god of the dead, stupid. Surely he would give you fair judgment. Besides, I thought you wanted to see your sister. The only way to see her as more then a ghost is to die." I stated.

"Don't you DARE talk about Bianca like that! Especially around me!" he snapped, eyes dark and it seemed like he could kill anyone. For a second, I forgot about Maria.

"Whatever. Besides, the sooner you die, the sooner you get to see your mom. I thought you WANTED to see what she looked like." I pointed out. I wasn't TRYING to be mean.

He took a shaking breath.

"I'll NEVER get to see her, Annabeth. She was killed by Zeus. Im forbidden to see her, and every time I try, I just see the day she died more vividly then the last. Unlike you, I'll never get to see my mom, and don't even know what she looks like up close…only a stupid vision of her dying, over and over again!" he turned away, trying to hide the fact he was ready to cry. I didn't realize that what I had said wasn't right. If anyone asked ME those questions, and I was in Nico's position, I probably wouldn't answer, and just start crying. But I knew my parents.

"Nico, im sorry. I didn't mean to-" I began, but he cut me off.

"Shut up. Just shut up and leave me alone." His voice was low, and wouldn't look at me. I cant say I expected him too, because he's Nico, and he never does whats expected. I looked over to Maria, who stood there, staring at me and Nico.

"Come on. You should get warm." I sighed.

I wrapped her in the owl blanket Athena gave me, and kept her close to me, and away from Nico. He was in a bad mood, as usual. We all just sat there in the silence, other then Nico mumbling as he slept. And his snoring.

TWO HOURS LATER…..

NICO'S POV:

Have you ever really had to pee, but you were laying down and every time you try to get up, little black dots blink around in your eyes and you get all dizzy, or just don't feel like getting up? Multiply that by ten. That's CLOSE to how badly I had to pee. But I'm not feeling good, I don't feel like getting up, every time I move I see little black spots, I get dizzy every time I try to move my head, and I felt like I was going to barf. By the time five more minutes passed, I couldn't stand it.

"Annabeth?" I asked. It took a while for her to answer.

"What?"

"Can you help me up?" I rolled over so I could see her.

"No, 'cause Maria is sleeping on my lap. You have legs that work, get up yourself." She growled.

"Ohhhh….c'mon! I have to use the bathroom, but I cant get up without falling!" I crossed my knees.

"Well im not going to wake her up!" she snapped.

"Please?"

"Cant you just summon the dead to help you up?"

"I would if I could! And I tried to summon them, but I cant because of the stupid hypothermia!" I whined.

"No."

I gave her my best puppy-eyes, which was hard because I was shivering and felt like I was going to wet myself.

"It's not gonna work, Bonehead."

"Okay, so when I end up wetting myself, you'll have to see me walking around in my underwear, because im not going to be wearing wet pants."

"I can live with that, because I don't look down there anyway."

"I'd be complaining because I'd be cold."

"I can block out your voice."

"Don't you think people will get the wrong idea if they see you walking around with someone in underwear?"

"They can think what they want."

"Come on, Annabeth! I really have to pee!"

"I don't care."

"You know my fatal flaw is holding grudges, and having a grudge against a son of Hades isn't the best idea."

"And what would you do?"

"Like I would tell you. That's the whole point of revenge, Annabeth. You don't tell people what you're gonna do. But I'll give you hint: your bag will become a toilet." I growled.

"Ugh. You are so annoying. Fine, I'll help you up." Annabeth sighed, gently pushed Maria off her, and walked over to me. she pulled me up quickly –way to quickly if you ask me-, and I almost fell, and I did puke.

"EWW! Nico! You jerk!" Annabeth jumped back.

"Well, if you didn't pull me up so quickly, I wouldn't have puked!" I snapped.

"When me, Thalia, and Luke stayed here, we had two bathrooms. One for boys, and one for girls. That one is the boy's bathroom." She pointed to a part in the safe house where the wall jutted out and went toward the back a little.

"There's no door, so don't say I didn't warn you about that." She growled as I stumbled toward the bathroom. Or as I should say, a hole in the dirt. That's all it was! a single hole in the dirt with weeds and grass starting to grow(but they were frozen now), and a few mice and bugs. You have no right –nor the wish, I hope- to know what happened in there, so I'll gladly skip that part.

A FEW MORE HOURS LATER….

I was laying down, wrapped in my blanket, when Annabeth got up, and whistled. The snow had calmed down a lot, so now it was just falling lightly, but was just as cold. The little girl –who name I found out was Maria- was awake, and bugging me, but I couldn't snap at her. Something told me I shouldn't.

"Where's your mommy?" she asked.

"Gone."

"Gone where?"

"The Underworld."

"Why?"

"Because she died."

"How'd she die?"

that was a question I didn't want to answer.

"None of your business." I growled.

Just then, a few girls and their wolves came into the safe house. The Hunters of Artemis. I wasn't to found of them, because of how they failed to keep my sister safe. Zoë Nightshade and Thalia Grace where pretty much the hunters who's names I knew. And one was dead. The other would shoot me with lightning just for fun. Not the nicest people in the world. I tried to stand up to see if I knew anyone here, but Annabeth put her hand on my shoulder.

"Don't get up." She said, pushing me back down and taking the owl blanket, wrapping it over the skull one. the two blankets together were. Annabeth though, still hadn't taken off my hoodie, but didn't at all seem like she was cold. So while she greeted the Hunters, I laid down, dozing off. I couldn't stay awake. I fell asleep.

ANNABETH'S POV:

I glanced back over to where Nico was sitting because I was explaining to one of the hunters –who's name was Suzzie- how Bonehead got hypothermia, only to find he was laying down and sleeping.

"Uhh…I thought you said he was skinny, and sitting up, not fat and laying down." Suzzie stated. I understood why she thought Nico was fat. The owl blanket hid the skull one completely, and the two blankets made him look fat.

"There are two blankets on him, that's why. And he fell asleep again." I sighed, walking over and shook him gently. He didn't react to it at all.

"Why be so gentle with him? from what you told me, he's a pain in the neck, and a jerk." Suzzie stated.

"I know. and he is a pain in the neck and a jerk, but he means well….most of the time, anyway. and he's letting me use his hoodie, which is what kept ME from getting hypothermia." I explained as I shook him a bit harder.

No reply.

"Nico! Wake up!" I snapped, shaking him even harder.

"Whaa?" he looked up, dazed.

"Dude, I turn away for five minutes, and you fall asleep?" I asked.

"I was tired." He yawned. I shook my head, and turned toward Suzzie.

"Alright, fine." she sighed, and I left her to take care of him.

when Suzzie was finished, I said my goodbyes and thank yous, and they were off, taking Maria with them.

"We'll stay here one more night, incase the snow picks up again. We'll leave in the morning, preferably getting to where ever Percy and Thalia are as soon as possible." I said to Nico.

"Take your blanket. You need to stay warm, so if it DOES snow again, you don't get hypothermia. It's no fun." Nico held out the owl blanket.

"No, because you have to stay warm too, and you have a sleeveless shirt on." I argued.

"I don't care. It's your blanket, and you should use it."

"Yeah, and this is your hoodie, so you should use it."

"I don't want it. you can have it."

"So you can take it back later?"

"No. I _want_ you to have it. I have no use for it."

"We're in New York, and it's winter! What do you mean, you have no use for it!"

just then, Apollo appeared.

"Arugh! I HATE the snow! It's way to cold!" he exclaimed.

"So go to Florida." Nico suggested.

"They're going through a cold front. And besides, that's not why I was told to come here. Zeus, Hades, Poseidon, Athena, and Artemis say the only way you two will succeed, is if you aren't afraid to get too close to each other. And by that, they mean you two should stop arguing, and just share the blankets. Zeus's orders. Well, Aphrodite helped with that one, but still. You cant disobey a gods' orders." Apollo said.

"So you're saying we have to _sleep_ together?" my eye twitched.

"Well, yeah. not doing anything that'll make Artemis hate you two, but sleeping close together, only for warmth. Besides Nico, I _know_ you want to sleep with her!" Apollo smirked. Nico blushed, and looked away without a word. I will forever be confused and a little grossed out by that. Note to self: slap Nico when he least expects it and when he asks 'what was that for' tell him it was for blushing when Apollo said that Bonehead wanted to sleep with me.

"And, the gods ordered us to share the blankets?" I asked again.  
"Yep. And disobeying Zeus wont do anyone any good. So you may want to listen without arguing." Apollo answered.

"Will I get in trouble if I kick him while he's sleeping?" I asked.

"Uhh…no, no, you wont get in trouble for kicking Nico." Apollo said.

"Please tell me you're talking about kicking me in the stomach, or back, or head, and NOT between my legs?" Nico looked wearily at me.

"Why would I tell you were I'm going to kick you?"

"And by that you mean you're going to kick me between my legs."

"Maybe."

He looked toward Apollo. "And you cant tell her she isn't allowed to kick me?"

"If I could, I would. But Zeus is still mad at me because of that bet, and I don't want to argue with him." Apollo shook his head.

Thunder rumbled outside.

"I must go now. Bye!" Apollo disappeared.

"Ugh. If you kick me, I'll have to kill you." I stated.

"So you're aloud to kick me, but I cant kick you? That's not fair!" Nico protested.

"Life isn't fair. Besides, girls are smarter then boys anyway, so I get to do what I want to you."

"Oh joy."

We crawled under the blankets, a little uncomfortably. Nico used his jacket as a pillow, and I used my bag. Thank the gods it was soft. And even though I hate to admit, it was one of the most comfortable nights of my life.


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6**

**Nico's POV**

I must say, that was one of the most comfortable nights of my life. Until I woke up, that is. Apparently, me and Annabeth woke up at the same time. And we were only about an inch apart from each other. And my right arm was draped over her waist. And our knees were touching.

"Uhhh…..good morning…?" I tried to break the silence. Then she kneed my belly.

"OOWW!" I yelped and curled into a fatal position.

She jumped up and stormed over to girls bathroom. I just lay there, waiting for the pain to end.

"Lets go." She growled when she came out and started to put her stuff into her bag. I had to rush to do that, or she would end up yelling at me. I ran into the bathroom because I had to go, and when I got out, Annabeth was already out of the door.

"Wait up!" I yelled, grabbed my jacket and pulled it on while grabbing my backpack and running out the door.

"So you decided to follow me." she growled.

"Look, if you mad at me because of how close we were when we woke up, it wasn't my fault! I didn't mean for that to happen! Honestly." I sighed.

"Im not sure if I can believe that after last night when Apollo said you wanted to sleep with me, and all you did was blush and look away." Annabeth hissed.

ANNABETH'S POV

I glanced back at him as I said that, and noticed he blushed again. I sighed and shook my head. I walked on in silence. i felt his intense gaze on me as I walked forward, and I quickened my pace. Pretty soon, I was running. I don't know why, but I couldn't stand to be around him right now.

"Annabeth!" I heard him yell after me, and I looked back for a second, but he wasn't there. I skidded to a halt, and looked around. Then I saw it: blood. a puddle of blood, and laying in the middle, a body. NICO'S body. I ran back toward him, and saw an arrow through his chest. I thought he was dead, but then I heard his whimpering.

"Nico?" I asked as i edged toward him.

"Owwwww…." He moaned, the blood pouring from his wound. He tried to move his arm to pull the arrow out, but I pushed his arm back down.

"If you pull it out, you'll just make the wound worse." I told him.

"How'd this happen?" I asked.

"I don't know…..i was just trying to catch up to you….and got shot in the back." He answered, his voice tight with pain.

I was about to reply, when I heard a growl from behind. Slowly, I turned around and saw some kid with scars on his face, and a jet black wolf the size of a Great Dane.

"Shadow wolf." Nico breathed behind me.

"I'll be taking the boy. Now move." The kid said.

"No." I growled.

"What, did you say to me?" he bent down so he could get face of face with me, and his wolf growled.

"I said no." my voice was low, and cold.

He tried to kick me away, but I pulled out my knife, and slashed at his foot. The wolf lunged while the boy grumbled about his now bleeding foot.

"Aim for it's left hind paw! That's the only way to kill it!" Nico said from behind me. I could tell he wasn't going to last much longer laying there. I listened to what he told me, and tried to aim for his hind paw. It was HARD. And Nico was no help, but I couldn't blame him. it would be pretty hard to fight when you had an arrow sticking out of your chest and you were slowly bleeding to death. Then that boy got up again. For now, I'll call him Bob The Weirdo. That name suits him. he's a weirdo with piercing all over him, and I mean ALL OVER him. his face, ears, arms and legs(I didn't even think that was possible), and even his shirt. Really, who does all that?

He pointed an arrow at me while his wolf kept me pinned to the ground.

"You could've let me just take the boy. But no, you had to put up a fight. Now, you die." Bob The Weirdo shook his head in mock shame.

"A daughter of Athena doesn't go down without a fight!" I spat.

"A shame, if you ask me. Athena would have made a great slave for Kronos. But no, she had to fight alongside the gods." Bob The Weirdo hissed. Out of no where, a whole volley of arrow shot up from somewhere behind the shadow wolf and his master, and the arrows hit them. the wolf turned to dust and the boy dropped dead. But the wolf hadn't been hit on his left hind paw.

When I pulled myself up, I saw five other girls, and two boys. The boys were the ones with the arrows and lead the way as they came over to where me and Nico were, the girls following. I hoped they were on our side, because if I had to fight all seven of them, there's no way I'd win and Nico wouldn't survive. I moved back over to him, and dug around in the bag Athena gave me, hoping there would be something helpful in there. Thanks the gods there was. I pulled out some ambrosia, and gave him some. Im not sure what is tasted like for him, sense it tasted like popcorn pudding to Percy, butter to Abby, and chocolate to me. im not sure why, but I curious to know what he tasted.

"What does it taste like?" I blurted out. Stupid ADHD.

He thought for a second while the blood stopped and he pulled the arrow out. Just as those other seven kids got here, Nico said "Beacon."

"Where's beacon?" one of the other kids asked. Nico ignored them and instead pulled himself into a sitting position, and looked at his blood-soaked jacket and shirt.

"I wonder if I'll ever have a jacket or shirt that doesn't get blood on it…."

"This had blood on it?" I asked, gesturing to the hoodie he gave me.

"No. that's the only one I have that never had blood on it." then he seemed to notice the others, and he jumped up and pulled out ShadowSlicer.

"We come in peace!" one of the boys exclaimed, dropping his knife.

"How can I be so sure you aren't working for the titans?" Nico growled.

"Will you relax? Really, you've been so jumpy sense we started this quest!" I snapped at him.

"What do you expect? I've been chased by monsters for about five months! And almost died that night I ran into you!"

"What, are you guys like, new to this whole Demigod thing?" one of the girls asked.

"No. I've known sense I was seven. He's known sense he was ten." I said, pushing Nico's sword down.

"Really? Who are your godly parents? And what are your names?" one of the younger looking girls skipped forward so she was right in front of us.

"Im Annabeth, daughter of Athena." I answered, smiling at the little girls brightness.

"Im not telling anyone who I am." Nico growled.

"He's Nico, son of Hades."

"This is Marissa, Laura, Sara, Mandy, and I'm Lilly." A tall girl with green eyes and blonde hair said. "We're daughters of Iris."

"He's Willie, and im Ricky. Sons of Apollo." The boys said. They looked like a blonde Travis and Conner, but sons of Apollo instead of sons of Hermes.

"If you're a son of Hades, can you control when people die?" the little girl, Marissa, asked.

"I wish." Nico growled, putting his sword away.

"Can you tell when someone's gonna die?"

"No. I know WHEN they're dying, but when they're GOING to die."

"Can you do anything useful?" Marissa asked.

Nico's eye twitched. I had a feeling he didn't like being called useless.

"I can raise the dead." He growled bitterly.

"Well that's….comforting." Willie took a step back.

Nico rolled his eyes.

"Come on, Annabeth. You're the one who wants to find Percy and Thalia as soon as possible, and talking to these jerks isn't getting us there any faster." Nico grabbed my wrist and started to drag me away. I never realized how strong he was when he was frustrated. I couldn't get out of his grip!

"Let go of me, Bonehead!" I snapped.

"Nope."

"Please?"

"Not gonna work."

"Fine." I said. I noticed him glance back nervously when I said that. For a few minutes, I acted like I was just going to let him drag me. the other kids were watching, confused, from behind. Then I smirked and stopped in my tracks, and kicked him as hard as I possibly could in between his legs. He howled in pain, and fell to his knees, letting go of my wrist.

"Never hold a girl hostage." I smirked and turned on my heal and headed back toward the others.

"That….looked like it _hurt_." Willie winced.

"It did." We all jumped when Nico walked stiffly out of the shadow the girls had made.

"How'd…you were- when…?" Laura stammered.

"Shadow travel. Only the children of Hades –and creatures of the Underworld- can do that." Nico rolled his eyes as if it was obvious. As he walked over, he was tackled to the ground by another shadow wolf who licked Nico as if he was a rack of ribs. And he was thin enough to be one.

"Jockamo!" Nico exclaimed, sounding happy for once. **(Pronounced: jock-a-mo….there was a race horse named that who is now retired, and he is the sweetest old man! Where I go for Horse Riding Lessons is where Jockamo is!) **

"Who?" I asked.

Nico finally managed to push the huge wolf off him, and sit up, ruffling the fur behind the wolf's ears.

"Jockamo. He's a shadow wolf I've known since he was a pup. He followed me around whenever I was down there, and when I wasn't, he stayed with Bianca." Nico rubbed the dog's ear.

"So…he's your dog?" Ricky asked.

"He's my _shadow wolf_. There's a difference between dogs and shadow wolves. Dogs cant shadow travel, and aren't as cool!" Nico snapped. Jockamo turned toward me, his blood red eyes glittering with curiosity, and teeth shaper then my dagger shimmering in the dull sunlight. There was a note on the wolf's collar.

"You do know that there's something on his collar, right?" I pointed to the note. Nico hadn't noticed it. and it must have been either really confusing, or written in something other then Greek, because he squinted at it and looked closely. I forgot how bad his dyslexia was. it was worse then most half-bloods, thanks to Zeus. You see, Zeus got mad at Hades when he found out his brothers kids were still alive, so he cursed them with a terrible dyslexia and a few other things that I don't know. Nico even had trouble reading Greek letters and symbols sometimes!

"Uhh….i cant read this." he held it up to me. it was written neatly in English. Then in Greek was the name 'Bianca' and it said "sorry it's in English" in Greek as well.

"Um…it says…. 'I bought...' I mean, 'I thought you sh…could u…use a…..hu….hunting…bog...sorry it's in English/ love Bianca'." I read slowly.

"Bog? You sure that's not 'dog'?" Mandy pointed out.

"Who's Bianca?" Marissa asked. I looked over at Nico who ignored the question and just kept rubbing Jockamo's belly.

"No one. don't worry about it." I said.

"Cant he read Greek? If he's a demigod, Greek should come naturally." Sara said.

Nico came back over with Jockamo right next to him.

"I have dyslexia, worse then most demigods because Zeus cursed me when he found out Hades didn't let me and my sister die. I haven't been able to read for eighteen years. And really, I find that a good thing, because that means I get out of reading the depressing crap in the newspaper!" he answered, before turning back to me.

"Can we go now?"

"Why are you in such a rush to get out of here?" I asked, annoyed.

"Gee, I don't know. maybe because the longer we're here, the more monsters will come after us, and I already almost died once today. I'd prefer to NOT be killed by monsters today." He growled.

"Do you even know where we have to go?" I challenged.

"No, not really. But then again, I find it surprising I can find my way to the bathroom in the mornings, let alone know my way around the Underworld. But anywhere is better then here."

"Fine. you guys can come with us, if you want." I offered the others, just annoy Nico.

"Sure. Why not." Ricky said, and the others followed him as he walked over to us.

"I really hate you." Nico growled as he began to walk forward, but stopped and sneezed about three times.

"Who's wearing perfume?" he sniffed, which only made him sneeze again.

"I am." Lilly replied.

"Ugh." Nico sneezed again. "Stay away from me."

"What, are you allergic to perfume?" I teased.

"No. but the smell drives me nuts, and makes me sneeze. Why do you think I hate Aphrodite so much?" he answered.

"I just thought you liked boys better, sense you said you'd never fall in love with the daughter of a goddess, let alone a goddess." I replied.

"I only aid that because I wont _fall_ in love with the daughter of the gods, because I already did! Oops." He froze in mid step.

"Who?" I asked.

"No one." he began walking quickly away. I ran to catch up.

"Tell me."

"It's none of your business." He said quickly, trying to walk faster.

"Im not leaving you alone until you tell me." I declared.

"It's no one, okay?" he made a sharp turn, but I pulled him back so we were walking strait again.

"Tell. Me." I growled. I could use this to tease him, and maybe even annoy the crap out of him.

"No." he growled.

"Is it Mandy?"

"We just met her, and never in a million years would I fall for her."

"Abby?"

"She's pretty, but no. she too into light and the sun for me."

"Clarisse?'

"Are you trying to make me puke? She's butt-ugly!"

"Laura?"

"Again, we just met her. And Im not im love with any Apollo kids!"

"Okay then….Thalia?"

"No way. She hits me with lightning, and I don't even understand why im going to go save her."

"Katie Gardener?"

"NO."

"Travis and Conner?"

"They're boys, and I hate their very existence."

"Suzzie?"

"NO! She's a Hunter of Artemis, and I think she's ugly!"

"TELL ME!"

"No."

I could tell he was getting tired of this.

"Please?"

"No."

"Fine. can you give me a hint at least?"

"No."

"I have cookies."

"Hmm…what flavor?"

"Chocolate chip."

"How many?"

"A whole, unopened box."

"And all you want is a hint?"

"Yep."

"She's a smart girl who refuses to wear anything dress-y on any random occasion. Now gimme the cookies!"

I pulled the box of cookies from my backpack, sense i wasn't in the mood for him to annoy me about cookies, and I barely got them out of my bag before he snatched them from my hands and took out four of them before slipping them into his own backpack. While we walked, and Nico ate cookies, I tried to think of who was smart, and refused to wear anything dress-y unless it's an important occasion. Lets see….there were any of the current Hermes girls, the Ares girls, and Demeter girls….and a lot more. he wasn't that good at giving hints.

Night came rather quickly that day. we guessed because it was winter, and Apollo hated the cold, that he 'went down' a little early and Artemis took his spot. Ricky and Willie made a nice little fire while Nico dug through the food Athena had given us, and he wouldn't let anyone get any of it, apparently because he was going to cook something, which was a little hard sense we didn't have any stoves. Jockamo laid next to me, his black fur pressed against my jeans. Mandy, Sara, Laura, Lilly, and Marissa went to find some wood for the fire.

"Ugh. Geez, Annabeth. Your mom couldn't give you anything _good?_ Really! There's no garlic, pepper, rosemary, basil-"

he started rambling off some spices, and I just zoned off. he was annoying. but after a while, he was next to the fire with something that looked like a giant chicken wrap, but smelt like an Pizza place. In other words, it smelt awesome. Marissa, Lilly, Laura, Sara, and Mandy came back just as the Nico took the food away from the fire and cut it into taco-sized sections. Before he could say anything, everyone grabbed one and dug in. I couldn't remember when I had something this good. He ate it as if it was nothing special. Maybe he didn't taste it as good as I did.

But I watched him as I ate. He sat a little ways off, in the shadows of a tree with Jockamo next to him, and he would occasionally break a piece off of his dinner and give it to the shadow wolf. When we all finished eating, I managed to talk Nico into playing his flute, and we just sat there either singing along to the songs he played, or just listened to the song in silence.

Im not sure what time it was when everyone decided to go to bed. Well, everyone but me and Nico.

"So who _do_ you like?" I asked, watching the embers in the fire burn.

"Why would you want to know?" he answered me with a question.

"Just curiosity. And I want to try to picture what you and whoever that girl is would look like together. And trying to figure it out on my own isn't any fun." I answered.

"I have a feeling that if I told you, I would find myself being buried alive in my grave."

"You like Percy!"

Nico gagged. "WHATE have you been smoking? Are you on drugs or something? I told you before, im not gay! And I said _she's_ and _the daughter of a goddess_. I don't think Poseidon would like you calling him a girl, and neither would Percy."

"Tell me who you like!" I demanded.

"No!"

"PLEASE?" I gave him my best puppy-eyes.

"Don't give me that look." He growled.

"PLEASE tell me, Nico." I stuck out my bottom lip and gave him my sad-puppy-eyes. He turned away and mumbled something.

"What?" I asked.

"I fell in love with you, Annabeth." 


	7. Chapter 7

**I forgot to say this in the last chapter, but the Shadow Wolves are part of my own creation. I doubt they are in Greek Mythology.**

**And this is random, but I just wanna point this out: this is the better of my Percy Jackson stories Im working on, yet I only have 5 reviews so far. While the others –which I don't think are that good- have 7(Battle of the Gods) and 38(Poisoned). but this one doesn't have any flames, unless the first one –which was telling me how to spell infirmary- can be considered one….but im not! ARGH! I just confused myself….**

**Chapter 7**

ANNABETH'S POV

I stared at him. he still refused to look at me, and just looked so nervous…and cute. Whoa, what did I just call him? Did I just call him _cute_? There are SO many things messed up with that. One, I doubt Nico would like to be called _cute_. Two, this is the son of the god of the dead, and dead people aren't cute. And three, this is _Nico_, the kid who can summon a whole army of dead warriors and command them to kill whoever he wants. 'Nico' and 'Cute' do NOT go together AT ALL.

"Uhh…" I didn't know how to reply to what he said. I don't know if I like him, or if I don't. this had been so easy when it was me and Percy together, but it didn't feel right when I was with Percy. I felt as if he were more of a brother, or a really, REALLY close friend. But Nico, I felt different. Shy? Afraid? Shocked? I don't know. I was confused. Then I blurted out the stupidest thing ever that I already said should never be said.

"You're cute."

He turned and looked at me, with one eyebrow raised. "I wasn't kidding when I said that I fell for you, Annabeth."

"Neither was I. I was saying 'cute' like how a lot of girls think Edward Cullen is cute." I said, silently cursing myself for making it sound like I was mocking him earlier. **(A/N: you know how in movies, when some guy says they like some girl, and that girl is all like "Yeah, cute. Now who do really like"? well, that what "you're cute" sounded like to Nico.)**

"Okay, if anyone else called me 'cute', they would find themselves on the ground bleeding to death. But I'll let you slide THIS TIME." He growled.

"I know. that came out wrong….i was trying to say….that I kinda feel the same way for you." I wasn't sure who was redder. We stayed silent for a while.

"Okay, this is awkward." Nico stated.

"Yeah…."

"So uh….good night…?"

"'night."

and with that, we both found a dry place by the fire, and fell asleep.

NICO'S POV

I had a dream as soon as I fell asleep. Yay. Demigod dreams rule. They tell you when you're going to die or get hurt. (notice the sarcasm?)

_It was dark out. The moon gave no light, and stars were dull and cold. I was standing on a mountain. Mount. Tam. I saw only two things. A girl, and a boy. Both were weak, skinny, and hanging from chains. Someone approached them, and the boy looked up. It was Percy. _

"_Look at you. You're a disgrace! Son of Poseidon. Pah! More like son of crap! You cant even save you and your friend. But no worries, weakling. By noon tomorrow, you wont have to worry about her anymore. Nor will you be able to worry about yourself….."_

_then my dream changed. I was in the Underworld. There were no dead waiting to get judged. No hellhounds or shadow wolves wandering around. Then I saw her. Bianca. _

"_GO! Save them, brother! They wont last much longer! If the titans kill them, they wont come to the Underworld. They'll go somewhere so old and lost in time, not even the gods remember it. and if that happened, then everyone who dies –including the ones who are already dead- will go there as well. Hades will have no kingdom, and nothing will be feeding his power….." then she was gone, and I was waking up. _

When my eyes opened, it wasn't even dawn yet. But I got up anyway, and shook Annabeth awake.

"We have to go. NOW." I said.

"Why? Whats going on?" she asked sleepily, rubbing her eyes.

"We only have until noon. Help me wake the others up." She didn't argue, thank the gods. When everyone was awake, I told them about my dream. And without a word, we started to move forward.

"This is hopeless. We're not going to get to Mount. Tam. by noon at this rate!" Sara complained. We all stopped, trying to think of a quicker way to get there.

"We could take a plane." Willie suggested.

"No. Zeus would shoot us out of the sky."

"Car?"

"Yeah, giving nine demigods with ADHD a car is a REAL good idea."

"Horses?"

"No. but Pegasi might work." Annabeth said.

"Yeah, and how are we going to get nine Pegasi?" I challenged.

"You can summon that Pegasus you told me about when we first started this quest, and I can Iris Message camp and have someone send us some Pegasi." Annabeth answer confidently.

"How did I not think of that?" I asked.

"Because you're a Bonehead."

While Annabeth Iris Messaged camp, I summoned ShadowFlash. Then I realized a lot of thing that have to do with the Underworld have 'shadow' in them. shadow travel, ShadowSlicer(my sword), shadow wolves, ShadowFlash…that's a lot of shadows. Finally, my Pegasi came. Took her long enough. Yes, it's a her. ShadowFlash sounds more like a boy name if you ask me, but all well. There are a lot of names like that.

ShadowFlash was a black Pegasus, but was almost see-through. Like a shadow. You can see through shadows sometimes, but other times, you cant. When ShadowFlash was disgusing herself, she looked get black and like a normal horse. But when she was in Pegasus form, she was see-though, ghostly black with black, pupil-less eyes. A ghost-horse you might say. Jockamo hoped onto her shoulder (don't ask why or how, but shadow wolves tend to know how to ride Pegasi. They just do.)

Pretty soon, Blackjack, Porkpie, Flame, Sandy, Sliverstream, Misty, Hawk-eyes, and Lady flew into view. I didn't care who was riding who, so don't ask me! ShadowFlash was a little faster then the others, but only because air passed right through her as she flied (how I managed to stay on a horse who air can pass through, I don't know. maybe it's just my ghostly awesomeness).

"I would get rest now. I have a feeling there wont be much time left to relax once we find Percy and Thalia." Annabeth suggested, yelling over the sound of the wind. Out of no where, I felt a sharp pain in my chest. I gasped, and kina doubled over on my Pegasus. I felt this a lot. When someone I know was going to die, I would feel this pain.

"Whats wrong?" Annabeth asked.

"Someone's going to die today on Mount Tam. I know it." I didn't want to admit it, but I hoped it wasn't going to be any of them, or Percy and Thalia. They were good people –even if a certain daughter of Zeus is constantly shocking me with lightning- and they had people waiting for them at camp, and just didn't deserve to die yet. But me, I don't have anyone waiting at camp for me, and in my opinion, I just didn't have anything to live for.

but away from my depressed-ness, I fell asleep. Well, what do you expect? For me to stay awake while im on a Pegasus, flying to my doom? Pft, where are you from?

….

A few hours later, I found Annabeth throwing stuff at me.

"Stop!" I snapped.

"Shhh! Be quiet! We're almost to Mount Tam., and by that, I mean within a few minutes we're going to be above the mountain! And something's wrong with the Pegasi. They're slowing down, a lot. Like there's something keeping them from going any faster." Annabeth said.

"Ugh. Now we have more things slowing us down. As if we didn't have enough." I grumbled. we all stayed silent for the rest of the way. And by the time the peak of the mountain came into view, the Pegasi were falling asleep in the air, and crash landed behind some trees in a clearing before fading away to where ever it is they were going. Jockamo barked, and tugged at my shirt, so we all decided to follow him. he stopped at some bushes and sat down, and when we looked out, I saw Percy and Thalia tied to the side of an old column thingy. Percy just looked really tired, but Thalia had scars on her was bleeding. The only thing that was keeping Percy from bleeding like that was the Achilles Cruse.

There were about 20 other guys standing around. The strange part was that they didn't look like titans. They looked like normal demigods. And they were wearing purple shirts that said something in some weird writing that even _I_ knew wasn't Greek. And they were guarding Percy and Thalia.

"Okay, so Marissa and I will go free Thalia and Percy, the rest of you distract them. But don't forget that one line in the prophecy, Nico. '_the dead will rise to fight again_'. You're the only one who can rise the dead here." Annabeth whispered. We all nodded. Hey, her mother was the goddess of wisdom and warfare. I wasn't going to argue that she should make the plans.

"Ready…..go!"

we all ran out from the bushes, Marissa and Annabeth sneaking around to where Percy and Thalia were. The purple-shirt dudes turned and stared at us through very unfriendly eyes. Why cant these people be friendly, and trying to protect the other two kids of the Big Three?

"In the name of Lupa, STOP!" one of them yelled.

"Who the Hades is Lupa?" I asked. Stupid of me to ask some question. They started to yell at me in some gibberish.

"Ah, shut it, you purple wearing morons! You're annoying!" I yelled. They charged. I pulled out ShadowSlicer and Jockamo crouched by my side, ready to pounce. When they got close enough, I slashed out and met someone else's sword. The noise was defining, and he must have had a sword like Clarisse's spear: electric. The only way I knew that was because as soon as my sword made contact, my arm got shocked.

I heard the fight rage on around me. the kid I was fighting tried to slice my throat, but I managed to block him and push him backwards. While he was re-gaining his balanced, I raised my sword and chanted in ancient Greek, and mist began to swirl around our feet.

Some of the purple-shirt dudes looked a little nervous. I chanted a little louder, and the skeletal hands of the dead popped through the ground.

"A son of Pluto? Impossible!" one of the kids gasped.

"Pluto? Isn't that a planet?" I asked.

"It WAS a planet, you idiot! It isn't anymore!" Lilly snapped at me from where she was fighting some guy who looked like a much younger Luke. And by that, I mean younger then Luke was when he died.

"Pluto is the Roman name for Hades, Bonehead!" Annabeth yelled from freeing Percy's wrists. The few of the dead warriors I summoned guarded Marissa and Annabeth.

"Pluto is Hades?" I was just getting more and more confused by the second. And of course, that could of gotten me killed. That is, if Jockamo didn't jump in the way and take the blade. He yelped, and fell to the ground, the fur around when he was hit began to sizzle off him, and it only took a second to relized this kid just poisoned my shadow wolf. No one hurts my shadow wolf. No one hurts my shadow wolf, _and lives._ I looked up slowly, hardly controlling my rage. The kid took a step back.

"No one. hurts my Shadow Wolf. Without _dying a slow and painful death._" I hissed before lunging at him and slashing at his throat. I was showing no mercy. The kid back against a boulder, the fool. I ran my sword through his midsection and let him fall to the ground to bleed to death. Hey, when I say slow, painful death, I mean it.

I left him to die, and turned back to where Jockamo was laying on the ground. I could barly stand to see him laying, wounded like that. And from the effects the poison was having on him, I knew that by the end of the battle, he would rise evil. Kind of like that disease in the book 'Old Yeller', but with a shadow wolf, it was a lot worse. they would be close to death, then all their fur would fall off, and they would get all savage and attack anyone and everyone. And eventfully, attack themselves, if that makes sense. So, I did the best thing I could've to keep him from hurting himself and everyone else. I raised my sword, and stabbed it into his left hind paw.

I think it hurt me more then it hurt him. I felt tears run down my face as I heard him yelp before fading into shadow. _Good bye, my old friend._ I thought before turning around and fighting again. I couldn't tell who was winning. My head was getting foggy from lack of sleep, and the only thing keeping me alive was my ADHD. What does that stand for, anyway? I was distracted trying to figure out what ADHD stands for, that I didn't notice some kid running toward me with a dagger until it cut my arm.

"OW!" I yelped and jumped sideways only to find myself with another knife pressed against my throat. I was stuck.

"Okay, son of Pluto, tell us, where were you, and why weren't you with the other two children of the Mighty Three?" one of them growled.

"None of your business, because even if you knew, you wouldn't be able to get me." I growled.

"WHERE WERE YOU!" they yelled at me.

"If you want to know so badly, I was in the Underworld. Being son of Hades, I get to pass through there as much as I please, and still make it out alive. Close to how the son of Poseidon can stay underwater as much as he pleases and go deeper then most people." I growled, not in the mood to argue. But then I saw someone push past my army of undead warriors and slash at Annabeth.

The kept pushing her towards the edge. I pushed away from the two kids who were trying to question me, and ran toward her. Just as the kid was about to cut Annabeth in half, I pushed her out of the way, and barely got myself out of the way. But I underestimated this guy. He slashed at my feet, and I jumped to avoid it, and before my feet hit the ground, he pushed me off the side of the cliff, and I plummeted down at a speed way to fast to run. .


	8. Chapter 8

ANNABETH'S POV

I watched in horror as Nico fell over the edge of the cliff. It was silent for a few second before I heard a blood-chilling cry of pure pain, and when I glanced over the edge, I saw Nico dangling limply there, his foot caught in between two rocks. Percy –who must have gotten freed by Marissa- and Thalia ran over, and while Thalia fought that one guy who pushed Nico over the edge, me and Percy climbed quickly yet carefully down the rocks. Grover would be so proud of our jumping-down-the-side-of-a-cliff-to-see-if-Nico-was-alive skills. When we reached him, he was knocked out, but even in when he was passed out like this, I could see the pain written on his face.

"If he fell from the height we were at, and he weighs about one-hundred and fifty pounds, and got stuck about 40 yards from where he fell, he must have been going about thirty miles per hour. And that speed suddenly stopping is enough to kill someone…." I thought out-loud which would have made me look crazy, but Percy was so used to it, that he didn't seem to notice.

"Can we worry about if he's dead later? Help me get him free." Percy said, looking at the two rocks that caught his foot.

"Fine. make sure he doesn't fall. I'll free his foot." I said. Percy nodded and walked over to where Nico's head was. I took my dagger and chipped away at the rocks, careful to make sure I didn't cut his foot off. he slid down the rocks and Percy barely caught him, and we pulled him back up. His right leg was bent in an odd shape, and it was clear he wouldn't be walking on it anytime soon. Which was a problem. Another problem would be the fact I have no nectar or ambrosia left, sense I had used it on Thalia earlier when she was still tied up. Not that I had much left anyway, but still.

When we got him back up to the top of the cliff, it turned out Thalia and the others had chased the purple-shirted people away. They gathered around Nico, trying to figure out what to do.

"Ricky, Willie, you two are kids of Apollo, right?" I asked, a failed idea forming in my mind.

"Yeah…"

"And Apollo is the god of medicine, so shouldn't you guys be able to do something? At least know what happened to his leg?" I asked, even though I knew it must have been broken.

"Um….we can try…" Willie said, walking over with Ricky right behind him. Willie placed his hands on Nico's knee and ankle, and closed his eyes while muttering something under his breath in Greek.

"I cant heal him, but I do know that he's going to be in A LOT of pain later. And by that, he dislocated three bones all at the same time." Willie finally said.

"Which bones?" Percy asked.

"His knee, ankle, and where his leg connects to the rest of his body. And just dislocating one bones hurts, but three all at the same time? Man, I would've died. Really, im surprised he didn't just die from the pain and shock of failing." Willie answered.

"Hm. We should get moving. Mount. Tam. Isn't the safest place to stay at night, or at all, for that matter. If im right, we should be able to get to my fathers house in San Francisco by six at night if we go by Pegasus." I said.

"But Pegasi don't like Nico." Thalia pointed out.

"Then we'll put him on Blackjack. He'll listen." Percy said.

"How will we get Pegasi to come?" Lilly asked.

"Easy. BLACKJACK!" Percy yelled, making all of us flinch. But pretty soon, five Pegasi flew down.

"I wish I could come, but I cant. I have to return to the other hunters." Thalia said.

"Hunters?" Marissa asked.

"Yeah. the Hunters of Artemis." Thalia answered.

"Can I come?" the nine-year-old asked.

"Well….i guess. We can always use more huntresses."

"If she goes, then I have to, too. I promised her father I would protect her." Rosa declared.

"We stay with Rosa." Laura, Mandy, and Sara said all at the same time.

"Then I guess we have a few more hunters." Thalia smiled. Then turned toward me, Nico, Percy, Willie, and Ricky.

"Iris Message me when you get back to camp. If I don't get an Iris message but spring, im coming after you guys." She smirked at us.

"Good luck, and may the gods be with you!" I called after he as she and the other girls chased after her.

PERCY'S POV

I knew Blackjack wasn't very happy about this.

_Oh, c'mon boss! Don't make me carry this kid!_ He begged.

"Oh, get over it, Blackjack. He's not that bad! Besides, he's hurt and we have to get to San Francisco quickly. And when I get back to camp, I'll sneak you some extra apples, but only if you carry him until we get to Annabeth's Father's house." I told him as I rubbed his nose.

_Ugh. Fine. only for the apples though!_ he flicked his ears. I walked over to Nico and the others with Blackjack right behind me.

"Help me get him up." I said. Annabeth and I lifted him carefully, knowing that if he woke up in an uncomfortable position, he would most likely make ghosts haunt our cabins for a few years.

After we'd been in the air for about 30 minutes, Nico woke up, groaning in pain. Why did I say 'in pain' when it's obvious he'd be in pain sense he just dislocated three bones in one leg all at the same time?

"Ohhhh…where am i?" he asked groggily.

"On Blackjack with a broken leg. I suggest you don't try to move, because you'll hurt yourself." Annabeth answered him, slowing Porkpie so that he would be next to Blackjack and she could talk to Nico without having to yell. She told me how she feels for him. im happy about that. They seem right for each other, somehow. But no matter what, Annabeth would still be my overall best of the best friends in the history of best friends. If there is any other way to show how good of friends we are, then tell me. because there is not –and will never be in the history of demigods- a better best friend then her.

Mr. Chase's house appeared below us, and we landed in his backyard at five minutes after six. Annabeth went to find her father and step-mother so they could help us a little, while me, Ricky, Willie, and Lilly gently got Nico off Blackjack.

"Geez, how much to you weigh? Negative zero?" Ricky exclaimed. Nico was pretty light for 150 pounds.

"There's no such think as negative zero, Ricky." Lilly sighed. then she sorta lost her grip, and fell, and she was the one holding Nico's leg still.

"OOOWWW!" he yelped right when she fell, because she hadn't let go of his leg right away, and it bent down with her.

"Sorry!" she apologized while Nico cursed in English, Greek, and some other language I guessed was Italian sense he took a class on that a few years ago, and Mr. D told him some of the curse words. We placed him carefully on the ground with his backpack under his right leg for elevation. Chiron told me before that if it's a leg injury, keep it elevated. Annabeth came back soon with her dad and step-mom following. The Pegasi already left.

Her step mother had a medic bag thing with her. I forgot that she was a nurse at some hospital. I watched as she felt Nico's right leg, causing the son of Hades to wince every now and then, and then finally, she looked up.

"We have to set his leg-"

"WHAT? no! no setting anything!" Nico yelled.

"Why? It'll help your leg heal, and you'll be able to walk again-"

"NO! I've already almost died from pain ONCE today! I DON'T want to almost die from pain a SECOND time!" he tried to scrambled backwards, but hurt his leg. "OWW!"

"Look, it's the only way-"

"Then do me a favor and kill me first!"

"There wont be anyone killing anyone today!"

"If only that was true, but _I've_ killed someone today!"

I knew he was talking about his shadow wolf. Annabeth told me about their quest earlier, so I knew most of the story.

"Nico, just sit still, and I'll make sure to do it quickly-"

"NNOO!"

"For crying out loud, just get your leg set! then we can all eat, get a good rest, and then get back to camp! We have to get back soon!" I snapped. Even I was growing impatient with this. I wanted to get back to camp.

"N-"

he was cut off by Annabeth's lips.

NICO'S POV

i was about to yell 'no' again, but then Annabeth pressed her lips to mine, and I forgot how to breath. Great gods, she beautiful. All the pain subdued, and I forgot everything that happened today. I found myself closing my eyes and kissing back eagerly. Uhhh…lets just say this was really my first kiss….not many people want to go near, let alone kiss, the son of Hades. I don't know how long it lasted, but when she drew away, I was in much better mood. The kiss kept replaying itself in my head, and someone had to slap me back to reality. No really, someone slapped me. And that someone was Percy.

I snapped out of my pleasant just-happened-a-few-seconds-ago memories.

"Can we set your leg now, or are you going to throw a fit again?" Annabeth's step mom asked. And of course, I was still thinking about that kiss, that I answered before I could think.

"Sure." I regretted it immediately. Percy held down my left leg, Ricky and Willie held down my left arm, and Annabeth and Lilly held down my right arm. Mrs. Chase grabbed my thigh(which was disturbing and kinda gross…and painful) and jerked it so it was in the right spot. I'll admit it. I screamed. Well, it HURT like HELL. She waited a few minutes so the pain would decrease. And with each passing minute, it was getting darker and darker as the sun went down.

"We should bring him inside before we set his knee…" Mrs. Chase muttered to himself.

"No. finish setting him now, because if we move him now, there's no way he'll let us finish." Annabeth said.

"I shouldn't let you finish either way!" my voice was higher pitched then I planned. Darn.

"Well, we're finishing it anyway." Annabeth said gently.

"Here we go." Mrs. Chase said before she grabbed me knee, counted to three (Hey! That rhymes) and snapped it back into place. I screamed again. Great gods, this HURT! Im pretty sure tears began to run down my face now. I tried to pull my leg out of Percy's grip, but I guess with him being invincible, it made it hard. Or maybe it was just because of how tried and weak I was right now. Hey, raising the dead takes and summoning a shadow-Pegasus takes a lot out of me, and fighting, having to kill my dog, and then falling down a cliff and dislocating 3 bones doesn't help!

This time they let me lay there for thirty minutes before they snapped my stupid ankle into place. I was too exhausted this time to scream. But they let go of me, and I just lay there, shaking, and my right leg hurting like someone was dropping a mountain on it, along with a million needle-sharp swords. Annabeth wiped my face, so I was sure now that I had tears running down my face. The moon was out now. I hadn't realized how tried I was until now. Sense about 2 in the morning I'd been awake, fighting, and I didn't get to sleep much before that either. But it seems like sleep would have to wait still.

Mrs. Chase pulled out one of those rolls of cast thingamajigs. This didn't hurt AS MUCH. Of course though, because I was wearing jeans and had basically knocked my whole leg out of place, I was going to have to take my pants off so she could get the cast as far up as it had to be. Of course, Percy, Ricky, Annabeth, Lilly, and Annabeth's father had left, so I wouldn't be as embarrassed as I would've been if more people were here. What? I still got to keep my boxers on, but the only clean pair I had was pink with evil, rabid, purple bunnies!

ANNABETH'S POV

About 30 minutes after my step-mother told me and the others to leave so she could finish up on Nico's leg, I heard her yell for my dad. After he disappeared into the woods for about five minutes, he came back with my step mom, and Nico in between them with his arms draped over their shoulders for support as he struggled forward. His jeans covered most of the cast, but I could see it wrapped around his foot and his leg was strait.

My parents let us stay there for the night. Percy fell asleep on the couch, Lilly, Ricky, and Willie were given one of the guest rooms (we had two guest rooms and two living rooms….our house was pretty big), and Nico got the other guest room. his room was next to mine, so my dad had me bring him there while he showed Lilly and the twins around the house. Nico had never been here, but he was tired and still sore, so we figured he would want to lay down for a while. And the second his head hit the pillow, he was asleep. How could he sleep on his back like that? It drives me nuts if I cant lay on my side or stomach! I was still calming down from earlier, so I stayed up with my parents for a while.

"What did your friend mean when he said he already killed someone today?" my step-mother asked.

"Oh. Nico's a son of Hades, and so he had a shadow-wolf, and someone cut the wolf open and there was poison on the blade, the poison used would make the wolf get all disoriented and he would start to attack everyone, and kill them, so Nico had to kill his own wolf. And he cared for that wolf. I can't imagine how it must have hurt to kill his own dog." I explained. I had to say, I was growing attached to that shadow-wolf. He was a good dog.

"That must have been hard." My father shook his head.

"Alright, honey. I know you're tired. Bed. Now." He pointed upstairs to my room. I rolled my eyes, but listened anyway. And I was asleep within seconds.


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter 9**

**Annabeth's POV**

I woke up to the smell of pancakes. When I got dressed and walked downstairs, I saw Nico laying on the couch with his leg up on the arm of it, Percy was sitting at the kitchen table, saying that the pancakes were great, and the others were nodding. Except for Nico, who looked ready to pass out again.

"Why aren't you eating?" I asked him.

"Hm? Oh. I already ate." He yawned.

"How does your leg feel?"

"I can barely feel it right now. And im hoping that a good thing."

I was hungry, so after I ate, we all sat in the living room while my parents went to go do some gardening or wash the cars.

"So what did the prophecy mean?" Nico asked.

"What prophecy?" Percy asked.

"The one that said Nico and I had a quest to go on. It was. _'All else will fail / _ _only one will reveal / _ _the dead will rise to fight again_/ _two will make amends_ / _soul shall die by blessed heart _/ _heart shall shield one's blade'._" I said.

We thought for a while.

"The first line could've meant that we didn't stand a chance if we didn't meet Mandy, Sara, Laura, Marissa, Lilly, Ricky, and Willie. They helped us after we left the safe house, and we would've died if they hadn't." I pointed out.

"And I revealed one of my biggest secrets the night before we saved Percy and Thalia." Nico muttered quietly, blushing. I smiled.

"the other one '_the dead will rise to fight again' _clearly meant that if you didn't rise the dead, we would've died." I said.

"What about 'two will make amends'?" Percy asked us.

"Well, me and Nico acted like we hated each other before the quest, and yet now…." I looked at him, his shaggy hair hiding most of his eyes, and I smiled.

"But what the 'soul shall die by blessed heart'?" Lilly asked.

That one stumped me.

"Um…Jockamo's 'wolf-name', meaning the name his mother gave him was 'Soul'…." Nico said. I could hear the depression as he spoke of the passed wolf.

"And he died by a bless heart. Nico, before you start say that you're not blessed…" I kissed him again. After two minutes, he was all ready all google-eyed.

"Im blessed." He said stupidly. I smiled.

"Good boy."

"But what about the last line? 'Heart shall shield ones blade'?" Percy looked at us.

"Nico blocked the blade that was about to kill me. and he has a heart. 'heart shall shield ones blade'. Nico was my shield, even if he almost got himself killed." I ruffled his hair.

"I think we should start heading back to camp. Or at least Iris message Chiron….or something…." Nico yawned again.

"Yeah. we should get going. The quicker we get back to camp, the better." I nodded. And soon, we were packing the few things we had unpacked, and we moved on after saying thanks and bye to my parents. My step mom gave us a pair of crutches, so Nico could keep up with us as we walked back to camp.

NICO'S POV

This. was. going. To. Take. FOREVER! Not only was I going slow, but we had to WALK from SAN FRANSICO to LONG ISLAND.

"Why again wont you let me at least TEMPT to shadow travel us all back to camp?" I asked Annabeth.

"Because, stupid! Then you'll be passed out for about week, and when you'd wake up, you would be starving and have to use the bathroom, and you wouldn't make it to the bathroom because you are VERY slow in the mornings, and that's what would happen if you DIDN'T have a broken leg. Sense you do, if you tried to shadow-travel us all there, you would probably end up wearing yourself out so much you would die. and that's not good, because if you die, I'd be sad." Annabeth answered for about the 100th time. Hey, I was getting tired of walking and using these stupid crutches, and I was sweating. And by that, I was soaked in sweat.

"Can we stop for a while?"

"No."

"PLEASE?"

"Are you going to start an argument like when we first started this quest?"

"I might."

"Don't."

"Oh, don't say you didn't love them!"

"I didn't. I hated them."

"No you didn't! you know you LOVED them!"

"Nico, don't start!"

"Start what?"

"That!"

"What?"

"Nico, darn it, im serious! Stop!" I could tell she was trying to not laugh.

"Stop WHAT?"

"Stop a lot of things."

"What things?"

"Like being so annoying, frustrating, depressing, stupid, a Bonehead, a jerk…." She glanced back at me, and I gave her my "puppy-face". Wow, I hadn't used this face sense me and Bianca were at Westover and I wanted part of her cookie when she got one from her teacher during a valentines day party. Thinking of her made me sad.

"And stop being so cute." She dropped back so she was walking next to me.

we were way slower then we would've been if I didn't have a broken leg.

"Hey, why doesn't someone call this camp and ask them to send a ride? If I walk any more, I wont have feet left, because they would fall off." Ricky complained.

"We'd have to get closer to New York to get a ride from camp. Unless we take a plane, but that wont be the best idea." Annabeth replied. Just as she said that, we heard some sneezes and a few coughs from behind us, and turned around to see Hermes there.

"Ugh. Sorry." He sounded all stuffy like. He sniffled. "Stupid flu…anyway, Zeus sent me to tell you guys he gives you permission to take a plane….only because Hades threatened to kill Thalia if he didn't. I can get you to th…the…ACHEW! Ugh…the nearest airport if needed." He sniffled again. Geez, he looked terrible. He was all pale, he had bags under his eyes, his nose was all runny, and he looked ready to fall over.

"Lord Hermes, if you're sick, then why'd Zeus send you? Shouldn't you be…resting or something?" Lilly asked.

"You don't have to call me 'Lord Hermes'. I prefer just Hermes. But the other gods were so busy delivering the other mail and messages since im not really in shape to do that right now….and he wanted to get this message through. But was too lazy to do it himself."

Lightning flashed.

"Oh, get over it, Zeus!" Hermes shouted at the skies, then sneezed again.

"Geez, you sound like Nico when he smells perfume." Annabeth stated.

"Whatever. Now, do you want a ride to the airport, or not?" Hermes snapped.

"No, we don't need one." I said before anyone could protest.

"Good, because I don't feel like giving you guys a ride. Now, here are the tickets, and it's a private plane made for demigods. The driver changes every day, so I don't know who you'll have. Have a safe flight, and hope Zeus doesn't change his mind. Bye." And with that, Hermes poofed away.

"Ignore him. My brother was always grumpy when he doesn't feel good."

We all turned to see Ares. I hoped he was going to help us….

"SHUT UP, ARES!" we heard Hermes yell from where ever it was he was.

"Hermes is your brother?" Percy asked.

"Half brother, really. Zeus is our father, which saddly makes him my half-brother. And he's ANNOYING." Ares sighed.

"Well, should I start to assume you're not here to help?" Percy growled.

"No, im here to help. I'll give you guys a ride to the airport, weather you want it or not." Ares growled back.

The next thing I knew was that we were all in a car with Ares driving like a manic, and by that, he was dodging every car in the way, driving on the sidewalks and around signs while going unreasonable speeds. I thought I was going to get sick. Lets just say I was never one for roller coasters, and this was almost exactly like a roller coaster. I tend to get motion sickness sometimes….all depending on where or what im on. Then he slammed on the breaks, making us stop short, and I had to swallow hard to keep myself from puking.

PERCY'S POV

Here's some advice: if you ever get the chance to have Ares drive you anywhere, say NO. this guy was worse then the crazy ladies who told me the coordinates for saving Grover when he was stuck in the Sea of Monsters. Good thing we all fit. Ares was of course in the drivers seat of the pick-up truck, Ricky and Willie sat in the front with him (Ricky sat in the middle) and Lilly sat on Willie's lap, while me, Annabeth, and Nico sat in the back. Annabeth was in the middle.

She turned toward me looking grossed out.

"I think Nico's gonna get sick." She groaned.

"Nothing I can do about that." I sighed. we hit a curb before the car skidded to a halt. I couldn't help noticing Nico swallowing hard after we stopped. his face was turning green.

"Oopps. This is a Wall Mart parking lot, not the airport…" Ares mumbled.

"Oh gods." I heard Nico moan from his seat behind the drivers. Ares ignored the comment, and sped off again.

"Im not feeling very well…." Ricky whined.

"Join the club…..ehm." Nico's cheeks got all puffy and he swallowed hard again.

"Ares, will you slow down!" I snapped.

"Nope. your flight leaves in five minutes. If I went the speed limit, it would take twenty extra minutes to get there." I didn't have to see him to know he smirked.

"Ohhhh….im gonna get sick…." Nico groaned.

"NOT NEAR ME!" Annabeth snapped, scooting closer to me.

"Hey! No puking! Hermes would kill me if I got his truck dirty!" Ares snapped. As soon as we got the airport, Nico quickly limped his way to the nearest patch of grass and barfed. What? there weren't any trash cans or porter potties, okay? besides, at least he went a little ways away before puking. Annabeth looked away. I had a feeling she was one of those people who started to feel sick when the see someone puke. Ares left as soon as we all got out.

"That guys a nut case!" Lilly exclaimed.

Me and Annabeth exchanged a glance, remembering our first quest when Ares tricked us and we almost died in the Tunnel of Love.

"Lets make it a law, that no one should ever get in a car with Ares. EVER." Nico limped his way back over.

"Come on. We have to get the plane." I said. We got there quicker then I thought we would. Nico was keeping up pretty well, but it was clear it was hard for him to keep up. We were escorted through the airport by some satyr who talked with Grover. The plane looked nice from the outside. It was huge and had picture of Zeus, Poseidon, Hades, Hermes, Apollo, Artemis, Dionysus, and a lot of other well known gods and goddesses along the sides, along with their symbols of power. Inside was just as nice. There were video games, TV, a snack bar, a pool, and it just looked like it shouldn't even be able to fly.

Athena was leaning on the wall in the back, a scowl on her face.

"Mother." Annabeth greeted kindly. The rest of us bowed to her.

"Today was SUPPOSED to be Hermes turn to drive this thing, but NOO. He had to get the flu. But anyway, the skies are clear –they better stay that way- and it looks like we'll arrive on Long Island around six." Athena sighed.

"Six?" I asked.

"Yes. This isn't the fastest plane in the world. Now take a seat and once we're in the air, you'll be free to move about the cabin." She said. "I cant believe I let that thief talk me into saying that…." She grumbled to herself.

We all sat down in the nearest seats, and they were very comfortable.

"What ever you do, do NOT let me fall asleep. And don't let m eat anything while we're on here either." Nico said as he attempted to sit without hurting himself. It didn't work. He fell onto the chair and the crutches hit the floor with a thud.

"Why cant we let you eat or sleep? you look tired." Lilly asked.

"Uh…I never really had the _'strongest stomach'_ and uh…the one other time I was in plane, I kinda got air-sick….and then I fell asleep and when I woke up I barfed all over Bianca." Nico looked down.

We all looked at him with an eyebrow raised. Well, I least I did.

"What? it wasn't on purpose! And I was six." He defended himself.

"Why didn't Zeus shoot you out of the sky?" Annabeth asked.

"I dunno. Maybe he was busy. Or Hades used threats. He uses those a lot." Nico yawned.

We fell quiet as the plane sped down the runway. When the plane began to rise into the air, Nico turned green again.

This was going to be a long ride.

….

NICO'S POV

The plane landed a few hours ago, and I STILL felt sick. I really hate planes. Note to self: no more planes. We still a few miles left until we would reach the Empire State Building. Of course, Zeus just HAD to call Athena back, and we just HAD to land early. Of course, I was happy to get off the plane, I wouldn't mind a quick ride to camp.

"I think my parents can drive us." Percy stopped suddenly and pointed to the apartment building in front of us. Apparently, that filled everyone with energy, and they ran forward, leaving me in the dust. I was tired, sweating, hungry, and in a bad mood. so instead of walking to the apartment, I shadow traveled there ended up right at the base of the stairs leading to the door of the building. I almost fell, but Annabeth caught me. Percy went and knocked on the door, and what happened when Ms. Jackson answered the door, I didn't pay much attention to, so don't ask me what it was.

"Mom, could you and Paul give us a ride to camp? Please?" Percy asked.

"Sure, but come in for a while and tell us about your quest!" Sally insisted. I had some trouble getting up the stairs, so Annabeth and Percy had to basically carry me up them.

"Nico! What happened to your leg?" Sally asked when she saw my cast. Annabeth told her the story of what happened to my leg and how and all that stuff. I just ate some chips that Sally laid on the table. After about an hour, we all piled into two cars. Me, Annabeth, and Lilly rode with Paul, while Percy, Ricky, and Willie rode with Sally. Why we spilt up in those groups, I don't know. but Paul had more leg room in his van(he traded the other car he had for some unknown reason) and Sally wanted to talk to her son, so Percy had to ride in the car with her, and Ricky and Willie wouldn't go into different cars, so because Annabeth wanted to ride with me, they went to the other car, and yadda, yadda, yadda.

ANNABETH'S POV

We got to camp pretty quickly, much to my surprise. Nico slept the whole way, so me and Lilly talked for a while. Me and Percy were the first ones out of the cars.

"You're in a good mood. Im guessing either you ignored Nico, or he was just quiet." Percy stated. He knew that although I liked Nico, that I found him annoying.

"He fell asleep as soon as the car started moving." I smiled.

"Is he still sleeping?"

"Yep. I'll get him."

it wasn't hard to wake him up. All I had to say was that 'the Aphrodite kids needed someone to test their new potion on, and that if he didn't get his lazy butt up, he'd be their test subject', and he was up. I helped him out of the van, and just as Percy's parents left, Chiron and the Stoll brothers came down the hill.

Chiron took one look at Nico before sending him to his cabin for some rest, then told the rest of us to meet him at the Big House. The Stoll brothers showed Lilly, Ricky, and Willie around camp while me and Percy explained about what happened during the quest.

"Purple shirts?" he asked us when we told him about the people who kidnapped Percy and Thalia.

"Yeah. and they kept telling to tell them why Neptune betray them. who's Neptune?" Percy asked.

"Neptune is the Roman name for Poseidon, Seaweed Brain!" I told him.

"Oh." He blinked.

"Yes, well, why don't you two go get some rest? You seem tired." Chiron said. He didn't need to tell us twice. We were exhausted.


	10. Chapter 11

**Sorry, but I'm stuck. I'm deleting the last chapter, and if anyone has any ideas to replace the one where the Big Three go missing, I'll gladly take them! **


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